Transformers: Despair
by Epicenter Six
Summary: Peace has finally come to Cybertron and a peace between the Autobots and Decepticons has occurred. However, 75 years later, Decepticons and Autobots get a letter asking them to attend the about to be open Hope's Peak Academy as teachers for the new students. They go, however, they end up trapped in the academy and the only way out is to kill each other. Oh, and there's a bear.
1. Prologue: Letters

**AN: Didn't think I'd be doing a crossover, especially to two very different media forms, but here we are. A crossover between Transformers and Danganronpa. Enjoy.**

Peace was a very odd experience, Ratchet decided as he walked to the train station. The war, the one that they wage for several million years, ended a few years ago with the death of Megatron; this time, for good. With the proverbial snake killed, the Decepticon went Ouroborian on themselves, collapsing vary quickly, which resulted in minimal bloodshed. Of course, they didn't just toss all the Decepticons in the slammer; they couldn't hold every single one of them even if they wanted to, so they negotiated. It was difficult, considering Starscream was scheming for a way to take advantage of the situation, but they eventually came up with a way for Decepticons to integrate themselves into society, bar a few unrelenting psychopaths that they couldn't risk getting out no matter the cost.

With that done, reconstruction of the planet came relatively easy. Sure, it wasn't a walk in the park, but it was better than constant war. Iacon and Kaon came first, as part of the agreement that they had. Surprisingly, both cities integrated sides, with some Autobots choosing to live in Kaon and vice versa. After that, they expanded, having about a quarter of the planet rebuild now in 75 years. That was certainly better progress than either side expected. It was first thing that both side agreed to work together as an equal force, and it proved most valuable.

Of course, they had another problem: the neutrals. Many of them held ill-will against both sides for bringing Cybertron to its first death. There were riots, protests, the whole nine yards. However, even more negations eventually lend to a shaky truce between the three leaders, Optimus, Starscream, and Metalhawk. It was another crisis averted.

After that, it was a mostly normal reconstruction. All three hated each other, but all of them realize the well-being of the planet was the most important part. There was a strange peace among the three that eventually became a mutual understanding of each other. There was less contempt and fights between each other, and more attempts to help each other. Ratchet became a more optimistic person after those days.

Then came the letter. Ratchet returned to the barracks that held several Autobots, neutrals, and Decepticons. When he entered, an Autobot came in and said that there were a letter from Hope's Peak Academy for Ratchet. As far as Ratchet knew, there wasn't a Hope's Peak Academy in existence, but was surprise to learn that the address was it was in Iacon. Ratchet knew what it was now. Some private investor was building something huge in one area claiming to build a structure that "represented hope to all who see it." Ratchet didn't understand the nonsense that came out of his mouth, but hope wasn't too bad a thing to build a structure for.

Than Ratchet read the letter.

_To Ratchet, _

_Hello! This is the headmaster of the new building "Hope's Peak Academy." You may be wondering why I'm sending a letter to you. Well, it's simple. You're special. To be specific, you're the "Ultimate Medic." Nice title, right? Anyway, this building is taking special students who excel in an area to teach them how to use them. They are "Super" level. In order to teach them, we need to call in some of the best of the field, A.K.A. the "Ultimates."You will be a teacher to the special youth who have emerge from the war with a brand new hope for the world and teach them to use it to bring hope for the next generations to come. I understand if you're suspicious of this letter, but this is a very real thing for me and the students. This school's teachers are strictly Autobot and Decepticon, to represent the unity between us as a whole. If you wish to come, please come a week before the grand opening. Some basic research should help you figure out when that is. I insist that you come and lead the brand new generation to a new world of hope. _

_Sincerely,_

_The Headmaster_

Ratchet was quite suspicious of the letter and talked to Optimus about it, who was in the middle of speaking with Jazz. "I'm telling you, this is very weird," Jazz said. The white-and-black 'bot was in the middle of saying to his leader. Optimus was thinking this through before he saw Ratchet coming in.

"Ah, Ratchet. What brings you here?" Optimus questioned. Jazz turned around to face him, a very familiar letter in his hand, Ratchet noticed.

"Looks like the same reason as Jazz," Ratchet noticed, showing his letter to both of them. Optimus looked surprise at seeing that.

"I thought this would be a one-off prank design for a single person, but I'm wrong. Looks like one was given to everyone," Optimus surmised.

"No, that's impossible. Prowl didn't get one as well as every other person I asked on the way here. This is very specific," Jazz said, suspicion in his voice.

"Why special skill did it want you for, Jazz?" Ratchet asked. "Mine was 'Ultimate Medic.'"

"You got called an Ultimate too?" Jazz asked. "Mine was 'Ultimate Audiophile', which fits pretty well," Jazz said, crossing his arm. "This guy put a lot of work into this. This deserved at least a cursory investigation among us," Jazz said. "I mean, I understand a need for a school, but we haven't reach the education stage."

"Well then, how about you two go over there when the day comes to see if this is real. Something like this could be very valuable to reconstructing the planet. We would have needed a school sooner or later. It's best for the world to do this now," Optimus recommended.

"Yeah, I guess it couldn't hurt. At the very least, I would like to see if any Decepticons are going there as well. The letters mentioned that the teachers were going to be both Autobots and Decepticons, but I wonder if the school can really trust them," Ratchet wondered. Before Optimus can answer, a beamed came from the console, indicating that Starscream wanted to talk from Kaon.

"I wonder what the screecher wants?" Jazz asked. Optimus didn't have time to muse these thoughts as he pressed the button, allowing Starscream to show up on the screen, looking like he was about to reach his breaking point. He the background, they could hear Skywarp celebrating something.

"Greetings, Star-"

"Oh, cut the superficial greeting and let me get to the point of why I'm here. Have you heard about this 'Hope's Peak Academy' in your city?" Starscream asked. The three occupants looked at each other in surprised. It looked like the Decepticons did get letters as well.

"Yes, we have. Both Jazz and Ratchet have gotten letters from the place," Optimus answered.

"Well now, looks like Skywarp's not the only one," Starscream muttered.

"Skywarp?" Ratchet asked him incredulously. "What would they want _him_ to teach their students?"

"Apparently, he's an Ultimate-" before he could finished, Skywarp pushed him aside and explained.

"I'm the Ultimate Prankster!" Skywarp shouted, throwing his fists in the air. "I knew someone would finally recognize my skills," Skywarp said smugly.

"Being able to prank gets you in the school?" Jazz asked, bemused.

"Yep!" Skywarp said, resting his hands to the said."And I know who my first target is going to be…" Skywarp left off, living the implication in the air. "Anyway, I'm going to pack. See you fraggers at the school," Skywarp said, warping off. Starscream returned to the screen, gritting his teeth in absolute rage.

"How did that moron get invited to that school?" he murmured to himself before calming himself down. "Doesn't matter. At least he won't be bothering me and Thundercracker for a long time," he said, looking back at the screen. "That's all," he said, turning the screen off, leaving the Autobots to contemplate what had just occurred.

"It appears the Decepticons have been invited after all, and at least Skywarp is going over there," Optimus said, thinking this through.

"It looks like this is very serious and not a prank," Ratchet murmured to himself.

"All the more you should go there," Optimus suggested.

"But we don't know anything about the building, or even who commissioned it to be built," Jazz argued. "We should at least figured that out before we go over there."

"Then I will leave you to it," Optimus said, motioning for them to leave. The two Autobots left, thinking to themselves how they were going to solve.

The investigation lasted a week, ending the day before they had to go to the academy. It turned up exactly nothing useful. They figured out that the building was privately constructed and the money required for it was astronomical. The person had to have very deep pockets. Aside from that, they couldn't find any information on the man, who prefer to be anonymous. According to what they have read, they would figure out who he was when they entered the building, so if they wanted to know, they would have to go over there.

However, it wasn't a complete waste, as they figured some more that was going. Nightbeat came to see them shortly after about being invited, named the "Ultimate Detective." He also noticed that Bumblebee got one too, probably labeled the "Ultimate Scout." He also saw Rewind and Chromedome talking together about being invited, labeled "Ultimate Archivist" and "Ultimate Mnemosurgeon," respectively. On the Decepticon side, Soundwave and Shockwave were both invited as "Ultimate Communications Director," and "Ultimate Logician," respectively. All the Combaticons were invited as well, being labeled the "Ultimate Tactician" (Onslaught), "Ultimate Brawler" (Brawl), "Ultimate Interrogator" (Vortex), "Ultimate Sniper (Blast Off), and "Ultimate Merchant" (Swindle). There was a few more on each side, according to reports, but they had no idea who it was.

Now Ratchet was waiting at the train station to take them to the building. Jazz had to do some final things for Prowl before he could come and insisted he go by himself. Now, Ratchet was up extremely early in the morning with no one around and the sun hadn't even come up yet. Ratchet was by himself, alone to all of his thoughts about the place.

"Hey, Ratchet, dude. What are you doing here?" Or so he thought. He turned around to see Beachcomber coming up to him. What was he doing up so early?

"Waiting for the train to take me to this Hope's Peak Academy," Ratchet informed him.

"Wait, you've been invited too?" Beachcomber asked. "I got invited as the 'Ultimate Geologist.' I'm guessing you're here as the 'Ultimate Medic,' right, man?" he asked. Ratchet gave a nod. Before he could speak, the train came roaring in and the two entered the train, taking a seat across from each other, the only one in the cart. "So, why are you up so early?" he asked again.

"I just thought I come here early and see what it had to offer before everyone else," Ratchet explained. "You?" he asked. Beachcomber rubbed his head nervously, thinking it through, before answering.

"Couldn't recharge well. Kept getting nightmares. I don't know why, but this place gives me the shivers, man," Beachcomber said. "I haven't even been there yet."

"Are you going to be fine?" Ratchet asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I mean, it's just an academy, right? What the worst that can happen?" he asked, before pausing and looking thoughtful. "I just screwed us over, didn't I?"

"Probably."

"Scrap…" Beachcomber drawled out, staying silent, which Ratchet agreed too. The two stayed on the train together until they both reached the stop and got off together. "So, you've seen the place right? I have and it's huge," Beachcomber said, over-expressing himself, flying his arms wildly.

"Yes, I have. It is pretty gigantic," Ratchet commented as they exited the train station. "In fact, there's out proof," he said, looking across the train station to the academy. It was several stories wide and had several buildings connected to each other.

"Well, here we go. You first," Beachcomber gestured, getting behind Ratchet. Ratchet looked at him before giving a groan.

"Beachcomber, I doubt anything is going to happen to us just by walking on the school grounds," Ratchet chastised. He walked across the deserted street to the school sidewalk, Beachcomber right behind him. "Now, Beachcomber, watched as I take a step on the school grounds and nothing happens," Ratchet said, taking a step on the ground.

And promptly blacked out.


	2. Prologue: Meet the Autobots

**_Day 2_**

Ratchet onlined with a furious processor ache, pounding against his CPU. The medic groaned, lifting the head off the desk his head was on. The Autobot looked around the room he was in. It appeared to be a classroom, due to the desks around the area and the various poster about Cybertronian anatomy. There was a camera to his right, bolted on top of the ceiling. The place where the windows usually were was bolted with solid steel plates. Blaster fire wouldn't take that down. Looking at the desk he was sitting behind, Ratchet realized that it was a teacher's desk, not a student one.

The big question was obvious. How the frag did he get in here? All Ratchet remembered was taking a single step on the school grounds and blacking out. Which meant two things: he owe Beachcomber an apology and there was some seriously weird stuff going on here if that happen. It almost seemed supernatural how it happened. Of course, Ratchet didn't believe in ghosts, but he had seen weirder stuff happened.

Seeing nothing that could help him out in this situation, Ratchet shakingly got up out of the very comfortable chair and into the hallway. The floor was checkered black-and-white, with beige walls, and the lights giving off a maroon color. Ratchet looked dazed by the weird style that didn't blend well with his red-and-white paint job before stepping out, looking for anyone. He transverse the hall until he turned at the corridor, stepping into a green-lit hall.

"Hello, Ratchet," greeted a certain mech, looking at a painting. His arms, feet, and lower body were colored blue, while the rest was yellow, with red flames on his arms.

"Nightbeat," Ratchet said.

"That's me," he replied, turning to look at him. "Quite a bit of trouble we're in," he remarked.

"Don't remind me," Ratchet said, rubbing his head.

"So, if I'm correct, we were all invited here because we were all the best at something, correct?" he asked.

"You got it right," Ratchet replied. "I'm the Ultimate Medic."

**Ratchet **

**Ultimate Medic**

**Perhaps the most famous medic in the Autobot army, his hands have become legendary with how quick and efficient they work. It is rumor that not a single person has die under his care. **

"No points for guessing what I am," Nightbeat said, turning back to the painting.

**Nightbeat**

**Ultimate Detective**

**Nightbeat is a part-time soldier, full-time detective. He has had his hand in many different police cases and dabble in conspiracy theories for explaining various otherworldly events. His main theory has to do with the Institute, which, he says, is some sort of shadow organizations that messes with people brains, but everybody agrees that is just absurd.**

"You should go find the other Autobots. They're around here somewhere," Nightbeat said with a shrug. Ratchet agreed, walking past him into the next hallway. "Don't forget to check the rooms!" Nightbeat called out from behind him. Ratchet did as he said, looking into the rooms. The first few revealed nothing, but the next one revealed a couple.

"Ratchet, what up?" A blue, red, and white Bot closest to him said, who had his arm crossed and rubbing his chin.

"Smokescreen, you're here?"

"Yep"

**Smokescreen **

**Ultimate Gambler**

**Smokescreen is a liar, a cheater, and a near-obsessive compulsive gambler. When he is not acting as an aloof ally to the Autobots, he's getting in illegal games with the Autobots, winning most of the games he comes across.**

"So, what do you think about being trap here?" Smokescreen asked.

"Right now, I just want to find the headmaster and beat his head in," Ratchet replied.

"Hah, good to know we're on the same page, although beating him is the only thing we can do. All of our weapons system have been turned offline," Smokescreen said darkly.

"Really?" Ratchet asked, before testing it out. He couldn't turn on his blaster, but he could bring out his medical devices. "Huh, blades and other devices work, but not the blasters," Ratchet noticed.

"That is very unusual," said a voice to his left. He turned to see a green bot.

"Hound. Where's the rocket that's always carried on your shoulder?" Ratchet asked.

I have absolutely no idea," Hound responded, rubbing his head.

**Hound **

**Ultimate Preservationist**

**Hound is someone who cares deeply about preserving the environment. When Cybertron became a hell-hole wasteland, Hound despaired for a long time, until he visited Earth. Since then, he's been working behind the scenes on Earth to preserve it as well as the newly revived Cybertron.**

"This whole place is very weird," Hound replied, looking stress. "Me and Smoke was looking for a way out, but we can't find any. Those plates are thick."

"That's putting it lightly. It's like trying to punch out Metroplex," Smokescreen replied. Totally impossible without the right tools."

"Right, well, I'd better go. Quick question, did you two black out when you got here?" Ratchet asked. The two looked surprise before both answered yes. "Now that is a mystery. I'd bet Nightbeat already figured out that it happen to all of us."

"Yeah, but why did we all experience them," Hound asked.

"I'm pretty sure no else has an idea on that," Smokescreen replied. "Anyway, you better go fine the rest. Me and Hound will continue to find a way out of here," Smokescreen replied, turning back to the window. Ratchet followed his advice, heading back into the hallway and into sight of someone else."

"Ratchet," Beachcomber said, the blue bot running over to him.

"Beachcomber," Ratchet said, looking down at the smaller mech.

"Hey, I have no idea why but I blacked out when we arrived, man," Beachcomber replied nervously.

**Beachcomber**

**Ultimate Geologist**

**Beachcomber is probably the most knowledgeable person about what makes up Cybertron under the surface. A technical pacifist, he only fights to protect himself or others who can't defend themselves. He almost stayed out of the war until an incident involving the death of several neutrals and Autobots convince him to help the Autobots. **

"You're not the only one. This has happen to everyone who's in here," Ratchet replied.

"Really? Aw, scrap..." he replied, looking around. "I know where a few more people are. They're in the main hall. We're supposed to meet there after we're done exploring," Beachcomber said, dragging Ratchet by the wrist and dragging him along. Ratchet followed along reluctantly, running behind him at an equal pace. The duo arrive to find a trio in the main hallway.

"Ratchet!" one of them reacted enthusiastically, running over to greet him. The bot was mostly white with some red lines on him and some kanji written on him. "It's good to see you again."

"Drift. Let me guess, you're here because of your swordsmanship," Ratchet guessed.

"Well, I don't think anything else I do is Ultimate level, so yeah."

**Drift**

**Ultimate Swordsman**

**A former Decepticon, he defected after he met a faction of neutrals. He abandoned guns and became a swordsman, becoming one of the best in the universe, and joined the Autobots to make up for his past crimes and becoming one of the more religious members of the Autobots. **

"Say, you think I can find some candles around here? I was hoping to do a ritual to dispel the pale aura surrounding this building," Drift asked.

"Dude, where are _your_ drugs?" Beachcomber asked.

"I just woke up a few minutes ago. You know more about the building than I do," Ratchet admitted.

"Really? Wow, didn't realize you were a heavy sleeper," Drift said half-seriously.

"Yeah, I'll remember that comment the next time you're in for repairs," Ratchet threatened.

"There's the Ratchet everybody loves," Drift smiled. "Say, come say hi to Chromedome and Rewind," he said, walking over to them. Ratchet followed along, approaching the two.

"Hey, Ratchet," the small white-and-black 'bot with a red faceplate said.

"Hello Rewind. Still recording everything you see?" Ratchet asked.

"What else?"

**Rewind **

**Ultimate Archivist**

**If Rewind didn't record you, you never met him. Always recording everything he sees, he acts as a recorder of major and minor events of history. Conjux Enduras with Chromedome.**

"Me and Chromey are just hanging around, waiting for everybody else to return," Rewind said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm guessing you two are still Conjux Enduras, correct?" Ratchet asked.

"Certainly," Chromedome replied. He was rather tall with a paint job of two different shades of orange and some white. "And we'll still be once we get out of this place."

**Chromedome**

**Ultimate Mnemosurgeon**

**A skilled Mnemosurgeon, he dwells in looking into the memories of people, both living and dead. His most successful and well-known case was Decepticon psychopath, Overlord, obtaining information crucial to the Autobot cause. Conjux Enduras with Rewind.**

"How do we get out?" Rewind asked.

"We're Autobots. We'll find a way out of our situation, trust me," Chromedome comforted the small bot, drawing him in. "Nobody will hurt you."

"Hey, cheer up. Once Perceptor returns, he'll tell us how to bust out of this place," Drift optimistically said.

"If you had made a bet with that statement, you would've lost," a voice said from behind them. The group turned to see two people walking together. One was dark-red with some teal thrown in and a blue visor covering one eye while the other was blue-and-gray. The red one continued. "Those walls are thicker than the ones we use at the Autobot base and I can't find the Science lab here, hmpf" Perceptor explained, disgusted at the last part.

**Perceptor**

**Ultimate Scientist**

**One of the most versatile and efficient scientist of either armies, he is always seeking knowledge from various places. His discoveries have change the way several people look at things going on the universe and has earn him critical acclaim from both sides, the Decepticons trying numerous times to capture him. **

"Meanwhile, I've looked around and found absolutely no information about why we're here or who built this," the other bot said.

**Mirage **

**Ultimate Scion**

**One of the most and affluent members of Cybertron, he used his wealth to help the Autobots fight the Autobots, proving crucial in obtaining a number of supplies. He is also one of the ambassadors between the two sides, having wanting peace since this whole war started. **

"Aw, man. That's a bummer," Beachcomber said, dejected.

"However, I will reluctantly admit that the person has exceptionally good taste. The paintings and digital art are all from extremely well-respected artist and the security cameras panels covering the windows are made from Titanium Dibirode ad laced with nanocrystaline diamonds. Those windows won't come down through sheer force," Mirage gloomily said. "We will have to find another way around them."

"That's unlikely," came someone else who just walked in, a yellow-and-black bot. I've check every single room and found no way out. Heck, some of the hallways are inaccessible to us."

**Bumblebee**

**Ultimate Scout**

**Quite possibly the best scout in the Autobot army, and certainly the most well-known, his ability to sneak and see what the Decepticons had planned has been crucial in a number of Autobot victories. **

"This place is trying to seal us off from everywhere, it seems," Chromedome mentioned.

"Ah, well. I guess we shouldn't worry about," Rewind mentioned from beside him. Once everybody sees the state of the building, the Autobots will just come on down and save us. I mean, no one could possible get away with this, could they?" Rewind asked.

"He's right," Drift agreed. "We just need to keep our spirits up and the Autobots will start busting the walls down.

"Need I remind you how thick these walls are," Perceptor said.

"Or how hard the window plates are?" Mirage added.

"Then they'll just use the big guns," Drift argued. "Don't they have laser drills and stuff like that?" Drift asked.

"I'm pretty sure what's in the window panes is in the walls as well," Mirage said. "These walls are not meant to tumble down just from some laser drills. You would have to use some really specific techniques to make these walls crumble," he argued.

"Guys," Beachcomber interrupted, "can we wait until everyone gets back before we start thinking of ways out of here?" Beachcomber asked anxiously, looking around. "We should talk about it as a full group."

"I'm fine with that," Drift said.

"Oh, hey Ratchet. Nice to see you up!" said a voice as they walked in. Ratchet turned to see Jazz rounding a corridor to him. "I see you got here just fine," Jazz added.

"If by fine, you mean black out as soon as I come here and have no idea how, then you're correct," Ratchet snapped.

"Ah, I see it happen to you as well," Jazz murmured.

**Jazz**

**Ultimate Audiophile**

**One of the most knowledgeable person on music, both Earth and Cybertron, and the second-in-command of the Autobot army. He may be one of the most laid-back members of the army, but he is able to improvise and add style to everything he does. **

"Yeah, it happen to all of us," Smokescreen said as he came in with Hound and Nightbeat. "Someone has a really fancy device in order to do this."

"This is more peculiar. I wonder which organization is behind this," Nightbeat wondered out loud. Before could toy with the thought, they heard the sound of a rumbling engine. Suddenly, a blue race car came around the corner and transform to robot form.

"There is absolutely nothing to entertain us here," the 'bot said. "They don't even have a race track or a bar."

**Blurr**

**Ultimate Racer**

**The number-one racer in Cybertron until the war started, Blurr is one of the most fastest members of the Autobots, able to deliver critical items and details faster than anybody else. **

"Perhaps we should worry less about entertainment and more about finding a way out," Perceptor admonished.

"Hey, judging by the look of things, we're going to be here for a while, so I just thought to check for anything to do," Blurr defended. "Besides, I'm sure Optimus will come in here soon and bust these walls down. We're not in any real threat."

"Well, getting off that, is that everyone," Bumblebee asked.

"I think so. I don't remember anyone else waking up," Hound said.

"So, Ratchet is the last one to wake up?" Drift asked.

"It would appear so," Perceptor agreed. "Which leads to what we should do?" Before anyone could offer an idea, a voice from the speakers rang out.

"Attention teachers!" a high pitch voice rang from the speakers. "Please head to the auditorium at this time!" the speakers rang silent at that announcement, leaving them by themselves.

"Alright, so how do we get there?" Blurr asked the group. At that, signs came down from the ceiling, showing arrows to where to go. "Ah, that helps," he said, walking over to where the signs pointed.

"Wait!" Rewind shouted. "Why should we head over there? We're safe here," he pointed out.

"Oh, really?" the voiced asked again. "Well now, if you don't follow the rules, you will be punished! And that would be terrible if that was to happen so soon before the fun even started," the voice said, trailing off.

"Punished?" Chromedome asked, confused, as was everyone else.

"Uh, I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to risk angering the guy. We should go there," Beachcomber said.

"I agree. Any objections?" Mirage asked the group. No one spoke up "God. Now let's see who's responsible for this whole mess," Mirage encouraged, walking to where the arrows pointed towards. Everyone looked at each other before following along. The group walked around the place until they reached the double doors it led too. The group paused for a second before Bumblebee opened the doors, showing a big room. It was large room, being several stories high with a stage for an announcer to address the students. Walls were painted white except for the wall on the right painted a gun-metal gray. The chairs were painted a comforting red color and looked very comfortable to sit. It appeared that they had entered from the left side.

"Oh, good. I'm not alone," came a dark-green 'bot who was already sitting in one of the chairs. "I was worried there for a second."

**Hoist**

**Ultimate Repairer**

**Normal in everything except his repairing skills, Hoist is one of the most sensible but withdrawn people in the Autobot ranks. Takes each day as it is, doing critical repairs like he earns a paycheck and stays in the background after accomplishing it, dismissing the praise he gets. **

"Hoist?" Bumblebee asked. "You were invited too?"

"Yeah. I just woke up a few minutes ago and heard an announcement telling me to come here. I was hoping to find the rest of you here," he explained.

"Everyone, take a seat," the voice came back. Everyone hesitated before talking a seat relatively close to each other. Without pause, the voice started again. "Now, before I appeared, meet the other teachers!" the voiced said, causing looks of confusion amongst everybody. Suddenly, the off colored wall split apart, revealing the other half of the room.

In there, the Decepticons were looking at them.


	3. Prologue: Meet the Decepticons

Skywarp gave a groaned as he woke up on top of a teacher's desk. It felt like he drank a lot of high-grade and was dealing with a hangover. He onlined his optics and looked around what seemed to be a classroom of some sort. He tried to figure out why he would be in a school in the first place. The purple-and-black seeker got up off the desk and looked for the window and was surprised about the steel plate blocking them. Apparently, this was one of those special schools where your life was over as soon as you entered it. It would also explain the camera looking at him right now, watching every move he made.

He silently wondered if it would continue to watch him if he did some annoying singing.

Skywarp went through his database looking for a reason why he was here until he figured it out: Hope's Peak Academy. The school invited him so he could teach valuable skills to the feature generations of Cybertronians, "to bring hope to the future generations to come." Which was sort of like asking Misfire for lessons on how to properly shoot a gun. Eh, whatever. It promised some time away from Starscream and Thundercracker. And now he was trapped in a school that offered no way out.

Well, except for his warp drive, which can teleport him out of here. Skywarp got ready to teleport himself out of here, checking his power supply to make sure he had enough. Seeing it suitable, he teleported in a purple flash.

BANG

"Ow," Skywarp muttered as he slid down the wall.

**Skywarp**

**Ultimate Prankster**

**The most loyal member of the elite trine, he's not very bright, but has a warp drive that allows him to teleport. He's well known amongst the Decepticons for being a serial prankster, his favorite method being pushing people down stairs. **

Skywarp picked himself off the ground, wondering how the fragged that happened. Stuff like that shouldn't happen, no matter the circumstances. How the fragged can walls keep him from teleporting outside. He didn't even know any technology that can keep him from teleporting out. Must've been Perceptor, the fragger.

Deciding he needed to check out the rest of his prison, he headed out the door to see if anybody was in the hallway.

And became face-to-face to Soundwave's visor.

"AH! Slender!" Skywarp screamed, jumping back. The lithe, black form of Soundwave tilted his head at the seeker before asking in a prerecorded voice of Megatron:

"Skywarp, status report." Skywarp hyperventilated for a second before calming down and putting on a grim face.

"Megatron? Seriously? Low blow," Skywarp chastised.

"Skywarp, status report?" he asked in Starscream's screechy voice.

"Ugh, I came here to get away from him," Skywarp complained.

"What are you doing?" he asked in Skywarp's voice.

"Talking to myself is kind of _awkward_."

"Skywarp, what are you doing?" came Thundercracker's voice.

"Eh... I guess that works," Skywarp agreed, crossing his arms, before recounting how he woke up. "I woke up in this prison on top of a desk with what appears to be serious hangover and a camera watching me. I hope I didn't do anything stupid while I was recharging," Skywarp muttered darkly. "Anyway, I opened the door and came face-to-face, er, visor to you and have no idea how this happen. Now look where we are," Skywarp ended.

"About the same," he replied.

**Soundwave**

**Ultimate Communications Expert**

**Third-in-Command of the Decepticons, he acts as Megatron ever loyal ear to Decepticon and Autobot operations, thwarting attempts from **_**both**_** sides to end his life numerous times. Speaks mostly with other people's recorded voices and uses loyal minicons and groundbridges.**

"Hey, how's Laserbeak?" he said, scratching his chest where Laserbeak was.

"Alive," Soundwave replied.

"Come on, got anything else to say?" he asked.

"No."

"Hmpf, no fun," Skywarp complained, getting his hand off Laserbeak. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" he asked.

"No. Stranger: cannot use groundbridge," Soundwave said.

"Wait, really? I can warp, but not out of the school. I learned that the hard way," Skywarp said, rubbing his face. Did it leave a scratch?

"Perplexing," Soundwave replied.

"You know, we don't go on many missions together or anything like that, but you want to stick together to see if we can find anybody else?" Skywarp asked the mech.

"It would be the wisest thing to do," Soundwave agreed. "Pick where to go."

"Uh, okay. Left is alright, but right is always right. So, right," Skywarp chose, walking that direction, Soundwave following behind him. It didn't take long before they found a whole gestalt full of people.

"Come on Brawl! I didn't make a bet with Swindle just to lose to him!" a gray helicopter was screaming at a green tank that was trying in vain to pull a window out.

"Vortex, you should've known better," said a small purple-and-tan mech leaning against the wall.

"Shut it! Brawl, quick pulling like a petrobunny and pull the damn thing off of its hinges or I'll rip you're optics out," the helicopter 'encouraged' the tank.

**Vortex **

**Ultimate Interrogator**

**A member of the Combaticons, and quite possibly the most insane of them. He specializes in 'information retrieval' and has broken many Autobots and some Decepticons to help the Decepticons cause. Tactics include high-altitude, knives, and terrible singing.**

"I'm trying, but this is proving to be really difficult," the tank replied, straining all with all his might.

**Brawl**

**Ultimate Brawler**

**Talk to the fist is Brawl's motto. That, and talk to the tank shell. Brawl is a member of the Combaticons and is the most front-lined of them, always rushing into the Autobot ranks to make them eat his fist.**

"Well, duh. The plates are bolted to the walls. It practically impossible to pull out," the short mech said.

**Swindle**

**Ultimate Merchant**

**Hide the silver! And the Gold! And anything else of value. Swindle is a greed driven mech and member of the Combaticons. He handles all the accounting for the Decepticons and works as a black market merchant to anyone. **_**Anyone**_**.**

"Ugh, you are all morons," came a very tall purple-and-brown mech leaning against the wall.

**Blast Off**

**Ultimate Sniper**

**Whether on the ground or in the atmosphere launching bombs and missiles down to earth, Blast Off has proven to be one of the most accurate and cold people Decepticons in the army. Member of the Combaticons, he's the most aloof of them and prone to going off by himself for lengthy periods of time to watch soap operas.**

"Not our faults were like to have fun!" Vortex shot back. "Come on! Put some actual effort into it!"

"I'm trying, dammit!" Brawl said, switching his grip.

"Can we actually try to find a way out," the blue-and-green mech exasperated.

**Onslaught**

**Ultimate Tactician**

**Commander of the Combaticons and one of Megatron chief commanders, his tactical knowledge has proven to be invaluable to the Decepticons. Has a major rivalry with Prowl, causing some to think that going up against each other is foreplay for them.**

"This is getting us nowhere," Onslaught complained, turning to look at the new visitors. "Skywarp. Soundwave. How are you?"

"Besides completely enraged that we're trapped here," Vortex interjected.

"What are you trying to accomplish?" Soundwave asked.

"Nothing. These morons are just wasting our time," Blast Off said, indicating the ones in the betting scheme.

"Hey, I would just like you to know that this is productive. We're trying to figure out whether Brawl's a mech or a wussy femme," Vortex mocked, glaring at his ally. "Come on, already! Move the damn plate!" he shouted at Brawl.

"Oh, that's it!" Brawl said, letting go of the window and heading to the helicopter, cracking his knuckles. "You want to see what I can do with my hands?" Brawl threaten.

"Oh, scrap," Onslaught muttered to himself. "You two, get out of here and find the others. I'll handle this," Onslaught said to Skywarp and Soundwave, heading over to Brawl and Vortex. Skywarp and Soundwave followed that ordered and headed out of there.

"Mine if I come with you? Being around too many idiots is bad for my health," Blast Off asked.

"Don't know why you would want to leave. This is entertaining," Swindle said, watching with interest.

"This is below me," Blast Off said, walking in step with the other two. Once they were out of hearing range, Blast Off talked again. "Ugh, what a bunch of morons. Skywarp, you are officially off my list of most annoying people," Blast Off congratulated.

"Aw, how do I get back on there?" Skywarp teased.

"Like I would tell you," Blast Off said with a huff. "We would be able to get out of here if Onslaught wasn't missing his T-cog."

"Onslaught is missing a T-cog?" Soundwave asked.

"Yeah, it was one of the first things we noticed. There was an incision where it would be and he couldn't transform. Someone had an ample opportunity to kill at least him, but decided not to. I wonder why?" Blast off said, lightly rubbing his chin.

"How… odd," Soundwave said, suddenly stopping. "Do you hear that?" he asked them. The other two stopped and listened. The two immediately realized it was a motor. The answer of who was answered immediately by a black sports car coming around the corridor and straight towards them.

"Out of the way, ahahahahah!" the car said.

**Wildrider**

**Ultimate Manic**

**By far one of the most insane members of the Decepticon army and the craziest Stunticon, Wildrider relies on being crazy to out-fox his enemies. Whether it hurts or hinders him, he does anything that will catch anyone off guard, including an incident where he set himself **_**on fire**_**. **

The trio immediately jumped out of the way, letting the car past by and seeing another sports car come out of the corridor, this time with a red paint-job and white strips. "Get back here! You scratched my paint-job!"

**Knock Out**

**Ultimate Fashionista**

**Quite possibly the vainest of the Decepticons, Knock Out is one of the Decepticons commanding medics and head of the fashion police. Favorite target is the Constructicons for having 'the ugliest paint job in existence! Who in there right mine said that purple and green looked good together?" **

The red car sped past them after the black car that had turned a corner, leaving the trio by themselves again. "What the frag was that?" Skywarp asked

"It looked like the insane Stunticon and Knock out," Blast Off answered.

"Yes, it was," a voice behind them said. The three turned to see a red-gold-and-black mech walking towards them. "Hopefully, they crash and kill each other. Makes for one less annoyance in this pathetic life."

"But Widrider is a part of your Gestalt," Blast Off pointed out.

"Your point?" Dead End asked.

**Dead End **

**Ultimate Poet**

**Part-time poet, part-time soldier, full-time pessimist. Dead End wakes up disappointed he didn't die in his sleep and recharges longing for death. One wonders why he doesn't just commit suicide. That and why he buffers himself so much.**

"I forgot how cheerful you were, Dead End," Skywarp sarcastically said, walking past him. "Come on, let's see if we can find anybody more fun to talk with," Skywarp ordered.

"Alright. Leave me to despair by myself. I will report back if Wildrider and Knockout kill each other," Dead End replied, walking past them to where Knock Out and Wildrider went. The trio watched him go before looking for more of the Decepticons around here. It didn't take more before they arrived in a big room and encountered the rest.

"Hey, what up everybody!?" Skywarp screamed out, walking towards the center of the room to see everybody. "So, any working plans out of here?" he asked. Everyone looked at him, before heading back to their own devices. Skywarp mood deflated, hanging his head in annoyance.

"Maybe we should address them one at a time," Soundwave recommended.

"Fine," Skywarp agreed, looking to see who he should start with. "Let's start with the A-list," he said, walking over to a big hulking mech with one red eye. "Shockwave, my incredibly scary buddy! How are you today," he asked in his most casual tone possible.

"We are confined to a prison with no means of escape. That is a poor question to ask."

**Shockwave**

**Ultimate Logician**

**Shockwave is the leading scientist of the Decepticons and a very scary mech to deal with. Almost no one wants to get in the same room for fear of being experimented on by the emotionless machine whose actions are run solely on logic.**

"Yeah, that's kinda stupid of me," Skywarp agreed.

"Now, would you kindly leave me with my own devices. Just because no method is visible yet, doesn't mean I can't think one out," Shockwave warned, turning his back to him.

"Yeah, you got it. Sure," Skywarp agreed, backing up quite a bit before bumping in to someone. "Hey ther-," he began before getting choke off by the individual grabbing him by the neck and lifting him off the ground. Skywarp saw himself face to face with what looked like a green-and-yellow mech decked in samurai gear.

"If you value your life, you will keep your distance from me, foolish one," he threatened.

**Bludgeon**

**Ultimate Metallikato Expert**

**Bludgeon causes fear to everyone he meets. Skill in the ancient art of Metallikato, he ruthlessly slays anyone in his path with such ruthless efficiency that he avoids snark in this entry.**

"Do you understand?" he asked the seeker. Skywarp gave a light shaking of his head for yes or at least as much as he could with Bludgeon holding him in his death grip.

"Good," he said, before tossing Skywarp to some other part of the room and into a light-blue bot that was by himself.

"AH!" they both screamed as Skywarp landed on top of the unfortunate mech. The blue mech gave a groaned and asked in a disgruntle tone.

"Can you give off me?" Skywarp's optics brightens at that and immediately got off the mech. That was Megatron's voice.

"Forgive me lord Megatron! I got thrown into you by… by…" Skywarp paused as he looked at the mech that was getting off the ground. "Hey, you're not Megatron!" Skywarp pointed out angrily.

"No duh," the mech said grumpily with what sounded _exactly_ like Megatron's voice. "I still wonder why I got invited here," the mech said.

"Do you know why?" Skywarp asked.

"Apparently, I won a lottery and got invited to be a teacher as Ultimate Luck, although considering our situation; I'm thinking that's a lie."

**Nautilator**

**Ultimate (Un) Luck**

**Member of the Seacons, Nautilator is an utter buffoon, whose luck is of questionable amount. Anguish screams of "Nautilator!" ringed in from every corner of the Decepticon command, earning him the ire of most of the Decepticon command. He does get letters from the DJD to come see them sometimes, promising not death, but something more… kinky.**

"Yeah, you're not very lucky if I just crashed into you," Skywarp said.

"Nautilator's inability to be lucky is quite well-known among the Decepticons," Blast Off said from behind him.

"He is quite unlucky," Soundwave agreed behind him.

"Humph. Than he's probably useless to us. Let's ask the others," Skywarp said, walking away.

"Useless? I'm not useless! I'm not…" Nautilator trailed off as he turned and looked at the wall.

"Alright, who should we talk to next," Skywarp said, looking at two green-and-purple mechs who were talking together or the dark-blue mech that was that was hanging by himself. "Hmm, let's talk to the Constructicons first," Skywarp said, walking to the two builders. The two immediately took noticed of them and the bigger one spoke.

"What do you want?" he asked. Skywarp noticed that they both looked twitchy, but while the smaller was doing it because he was nervous, the one talking to him was calm, not nervous at all.

"We were wondering if you have any idea if you know why we're here or how we get out, Mixmaster," Blast Off said, taking the lead.

"If we did, you think I would be acting on that right now?" the mech asked. "If you find me some chemicals, I might be able to whip something up."

**Mixmaster**

**Ultimate Chemist**

**Member of the Constructicons, Mixmaster is a master of his trade, making explosives to takedown anything that gets in the way of the Decepticons. He also makes painkillers and drugs to sell to help fund the Constructicons, but has a habit to sample his own stuff.**

"We haven't found any chemicals in the area," Soundwave informed them.

"Well then, this conversation is useless. Go talk to someone else about this," Mixmaster said, turning away. The trio looked at each other, before Skywarp asked:

"What about Scavenger. Has he found anything," he asked about the mech, who was currently rubbing his shovel-tail worryingly.

"He's not talking much, but if he finds anything, I'll inform you. He has a habit of finding useful things," Mixmaster agreed, turning to Scavenger. "Isn't that right, Scavenger?" he asked him. The mech looked at them before saying nervously:

"Yeah, I can find some stuff that might help. Don't worry," he said nervously, before getting lost in his own thoughts again.

**Scavenger**

**Ultimate Scavenger**

**Scavenger spends hours after hours, looking for resources to prove his worth to the Decepticons. He can find some useful stuff at times, but most of the time, he ends up making himself look like an idiot, furthering his self-esteem problems.**

The three nodded before heading to the only other mech they haven't talked too, only to see that he was gone. "Hey, where did the last guy go?" Skywarp asked.

"Attention teachers! Please head to the auditorium at this time!" the voice asked from over the speakers. Suddenly, signs came out from out of the ceiling, pointing to where they needed to go.

"Uh, you think we should listen to the voice?" Skywarp asked.

"Oh, really?" the voiced asked again. "Well now, if you don't follow the rules, you will be punished! And that would be terrible if that was to happen so soon before the fun even started," the voice said, trailing off.

"What the frag does e mean by 'punish?'" Skywarp asked everyone.

"Perhaps it would be wise to venture to where he wants us and find out?" Shockwave recommended.

"Either way, I'm sure bad things will happen," Scavenger spoke out.

"More than likely," Bludgeon agreed, "but I want to see the face of my captive before I send him to oblivion."

"Alright, so it's agreed. We go see whatever psychopath got us captive," Skywarp said to the room. No one disagreed. "Alright, let's follow the arrows," Skywarp ordered, heading to where they would lead them. The group went through a couple of turns before arriving at a pair of double doors. The group looked at each other before Skywarp opened the door and looked inside. They looked inside to see a large room with a stage and comforting red chairs. Inside, everyone else was waiting. The other Combaticons were sitting together, Onslaught and Swindle inbetween Vortex and Brawl to keep them from fighting. Dead End, similarly, was in-between Knock Out and Wildrider, who both wore multiple scratches to the finish. Standing up, looking for a place to sit, was the dark-blue mech from earlier that had walk way. "Hey, you!" Skywarp yelled at the mech. The mech turned and became face-to-face with Skywarp.

"Talk to me again and I will beat your face in," the mech threaten before grabbing a seat in the back away from them.

**Counterpunch**

**Ultimate ?**

**A brute of a mech, the Decepticons know very little about him except that he likes to destroy any Autobot that comes his way. Best to stay away from lest you want your head punched off.**

"Everyone take a seat," the voice clamored. The group took a look at each other before following the order, seating in different seat away from each other. "Alright, now that's everyone seated, let me introduced you to the other teachers!" the voice said, the wall to the right coming apart showing every Decepticon the other half of the room.

Inside were the Autobots, looking at them.


	4. Prologue: Mingling

The silence between the two sides was deafening as they stared at each other. Yes, they all read the letter that said both sides would be involved, but it was still a surprise to see them after being with their own sides the whole morning. Everyone wondered who was going to say the first word, but no one would speak. There may have been peace between the two sides, but that didn't mean they have to mingle with each other.

"Oh, boy," the voice on the speakers said. "I figure this would happen. Listen up! I want you to mingle. This isn't a suggestion, it's a command. I can't do this properly if you two won't interact with each other! Now, mingle!" the voice ended, getting off again. With that done, both sides went back to staring at each other. Whatever happens next was going to be awkward. Mirage, acting the ambassador he was, stands up and got in the middle of them.

"Okay, now I know that both sides are actively suspicious of the other sides, I'm sure. I don't blame you, but we have to work together. We here because of one person and none of us know who they are, so teamwork is key. Now, each of us take a member of the opposing side and talk to them for a little while, alright?" he asked of them. "Blast Off, we're old buddies from before the war. You want to help me demonstrate to them?" he asked. Blast Off gave a shrug of his shoulders before complying.

"Fine, if it keeps things going. I recommend everyone else does the same if you want to figure out who holds us captive," he said to everyone else, getting up and taking a seat next Mirage. Slowly, everyone got up and got together with another person.

"So, what's your opinion on who's got us captive?" Mirage asked Blast Off.

"I don't know. Whoever he is, he's filthy rich if he can afford all this," Blast Off said, waving his hand around the room.

"Exactly, which limits the suspect pool by quite a bit, but I don't know of many neutrals who could afford all this," Mirage contemplated. "Do you know of any?" he asked.

"No, I don't," Blast Off replied, crossing his arm. The two sat there, Mirage trying to think of something to say. "You're trying to figure out why I join the Decepticons?" Blast Off asked.

"No, well yes," Mirage said nervously. "I never quite got it."

"Well then, let me put it simply. The Decepticons suit me a lot more than the Autobots. Far too stuffy for me," Blast Off answered.

"Is that all?" Mirage asked.

"Yes, it is," Blast Off said, continuing to lean back in his chair.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Ratchet gruffly asked Knock Out, who was mourning his ruined paint job.

"Do you see all of these scratches on me?" Knock Out asked.

"Yes, but I hardly see how it has to do with my question," Ratchet said.

"It's going to take forever to get these out," Knock Out complained. Ratchet rolled his optics at that.

"No, they won't. They look mesh deep, at best," Ratchet tried to soothe.

"Maybe, but for the next while, I'll look imperfect. I'll look like… _you_," Knock Out languished.

"Still as vain as ever, I see," Ratchet commented. Knock Out didn't pay any attention to him, still looking at the scratches Wildrider defile him with, muttering comments about how to clean them and how he was going to kill Wildrider. Ratchet gave a groan and leaned back in his seat, letting him suffer in his own vanity.

* * *

"So, do you practice the art of Metallikato as well?" Bludgeon asked Drift, noticing his empty scabbards.

"No, but I do use swords and quite well, may I add," he replied. "I wondered where they went. I came here with them, but when I woke up, they were gone."

"It appears I wasn't the only one who had his weapon confiscated by our warden," Bludgeon mused, rubbing his chin.

"It makes sense. They wouldn't want us wrecking the building with them. I mean, Hound had a giant missile launcher on his shoulder at all times, but it's missing now," Drift pointed out, pointing at Hound.

"Huh, how duplicitous of them," Bludgeon said, thinking it through. "When we get out swords back, we're going to rip this being apart, you understand that?"

"Absolutely," Drift said with a smile.

* * *

"Hmm, Shockwave. Interesting seeing you here," Perceptor said to the big, hulking form looking down at him.

"As it is seeing you, Perceptor," Shockwave agreed.

"I didn't think you would be interested in teaching the future generations. You seem like a very solitary type," Perceptor mentioned.

"I'm doing this as an obligation to Starscream," Shockwave replied. "He gave Soundwave and me orders to make sure Skywarp doesn't do anything to damage the Decepticon reputation while he's here," Shockwave informed him.

"Ah, makes sense. Skywarp has a habit of acting up," Perceptor muttered. "Of course, the academy invited him because of him doing just that."

"Extremely odd."

* * *

"There is something oddly adorable about you two," Wildrider said to Chromedome and Rewind.

"I don't get it," Dead End muttered behind him. "Why would you want to be conjunx enduras in this life?"

"Because we have a special bond," Rewind said, taking a lead of the conversation. "Haven't either of you had a significant other that you felt a close attachment?" he asked them.

"No," Dead End immediately answered. Surprisingly, Wildrider was a little more thoughtful.

"Tell me, does high-explosives count as a significant other?" he asked them. The two stared at him.

"Uh," Rewind mumble, unable to answer that question.

"No," Chromedome muttered behind him.

"Yeah, no," Rewind agreed. "It has to be another Cybertronian," Rewind said.

"What if it was a K-class?" Wildrider asked again. "They're explosives but Cybertronian, right?

"Uh, correct, but it would be a really short relationship if that was true," Rewind replied.

"Short, but, oh, I bet the fragging would be _glorious_," Wildrider, drifting off into his imagination. The three of them all looked at him oddly before continuing the conversation without him.

* * *

"Someone's been using syk quite a bit," Nightbeat observed.

"What do you mean?" Mixmaster asked, indignantly.

"You know using syk over an extended amount of time is bad for your help. I've seen more than a few people on the streets that had overdosed on them," Nightbeat continued, unperturbed.

"Keep saying those things and you're going to end up with a rearranged face," Mixmaster said, getting ready to unleash his fist.

"And yet, despite all of your faults, you are extremely good chemist," Nightbeat complimented. "I wonder how you do it with your mind so fogged up all the time."

"I'm the Ultimate Chemist. I can cook in my sleep, much less when I'm using syk. Besides, mostly distribute," Mixmaster defended.

"Ah, so you prey on other people's weakness. How nice," Nightbeat sarcastically said.

"Just when I thought we were past insults…" Mixmaster grumbled.

* * *

"Smokescreen."

"Swindle."

The two glared at each other in a cold silence, waiting for the other to make the first move. Their faces hinted at nothing and their firm stances betray no emotion. This was a stand-off between two equal forces. Finally Swindle made a moved…

He stuck his hand out, with a smirk on his face. "It's good to meet former partners," Swindle said with a trace of satisfaction." Smokescreen raised an eyebrow before smiling and shaking his hand.

"It's good to see an old partner as well," Smokescreen said.

"Why the frag did you join the Autobots?"Swindle asked.

"Because, unlike you, I don't sell myself out to the one who's most likely to win," Smokescreen mocked.

"Oh, you wound me," Swindle said melodramatically, raising the back of his hand to his head in fake hurt.

"Oh, cut it out," Smokescreen said, giving Swindle a smack on the shoulder.

* * *

Onslaught gazed over at Swindle, who was obviously having a good time. He would absolutely love it if the 'bot he was talking to was someone he knew. "Dude, are you okay?" Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, he thought as he lowered his gazed down to Beachcomber.

"I'm fine," Onslaught said, barely containing his rage at being partner with Beachcomber. Why couldn't he be partner up with Bumblebee or Jazz? At least they were important.

"No, you're not fine," Beachcomber accused. Onslaught stared down at the small 'bot.

"And what makes you think that?" Onslaught asked, sounding intrigued.

"It's not that hard. I can tell by the way you glaring at Swindle just a few moments ago, and how you keep flicking your few over to Jazz and Bumblebee. So, why do you not want to talk to me?" Beachcomber asked again.

"You want me to be frank?" Onslaught asked. Beachcomber gave a nod. "It's because you're not useful in the grand scheme of things. Jazz, Bumblebee, Prowl, Ratchet, Ironhide… those are the, to use a human term, 'big dogs.' Tell me, how do you stack up when compared to them?" Onslaught bluntly asked. Beachcomber stated at Onslaught, figuring out what he was saying before answering.

"Not very well," Beachcomber admitted, his head hanged in a bit if shame.

"Exactly," Onslaught said, wondering his gaze over to Jazz real quickly as he was conversing with Soundwave.

"I got a question," Beachcomber interrupted his thoughts, making him look down at the 'bot again.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Can you give me any tips?" Onslaught was rather shocked by that question, but thought it through. The war was over and now they had a new enemy to worry about. Along with that, there was a determination in his eye that he didn't see often. It couldn't hurt to instruct someone in how to be good, especially if it's to use against the slagger that put them in here.

"Alright," Onslaught conceded. "Tip number one…"

* * *

"You're telling me you're unable to get any transmission from the outside world?" Jazz asked.

"Confirm," Soundwave affirmed.

"So, they're using jammers that keep us from contacting the outside world," Jazz mused.

"Most likely," Soundwave contributed.

"Most likely? You're hinting that there might be another way they're blocking it," Jazz asked.

"Most likely not. It's probable that the jammer is just more difficult to detect than others. There is no noticeable interference on the line, which indicates that there is no active transmission outside the building or something is blocking it. However, blocking usually has a static that goes along with it. There is nothing right now," Soundwave informed him.

Hmm, that's very odd. Anything else?" Jazz asked.

"Nothing at this time."

"Scrap," Jazz cursed, thinking this through. "What should we do?" Jazz asked.

"It is best to wait until the headmaster comes before we think of what to do," Soundwave suggested.

"Alright," Jazz agreed, putting the subject to the back of his mind for now. "So, why are you here? I doubt you're here just to teach the future generations of Cybertronians," Jazz asked.

"Under orders from Starscream to watch over Skywarp. Wanted to make sure Skywarp didn't do anything to embarrass the Decepticons," Soundwave answered.

"Did he now?" Jazz asked. "Tell me; can Skywarp teleport out of here?" Jazz asked. It was a stupid question, as Jazz figured if he could, he would've been gone by now.

"No. Tried earlier, but ended up running into a wall," Soundwave answered. "It was very loud. Able to hear it from the halls."

"Ouch. Sucks to be him," Jazz said, with a good laugh. "Thanks for telling me that, Sounders. I needed something to cheer me up."

* * *

"You look nervous," Hoist immediately pointed out as Scavenger took a seat next to him.

"Well, when you wake up to find you're trap in a academy with no way out, all your weapons offline, and forced to talk to people who you spent almost 10 million years trying to kill, you're naturally a little nervous," Scavenger defended, looking around the room in paranoia. "I came to talk to you because you look like you won't kill me," Scavenger said.

"Only if you try to kill me," Hoist said simply, looking at the rest of the groups talking.

"Yeah, I figure. Anyway," Scavenger said, "I wonder how everybody's outside right now. You know, trying to find a way to get us out of here."

"I'm sure they're doing fine," Hoist comforted.

"It's just that, I'm sure the others are worried sick about Mixmaster," Scavenger said.

"What about you?"

"I'm sure they don't care about me," Scavenger gloomily said. "I'm not that useful when compared to Mix over there," he said, shrugging his shoulders to his general direction. "I mean, what do I do? I dig. That's about it," Scavenger said. "That and be Hook's medical assistance, but he only needs me to give him stuff," Scavenger recounted.

"Well, you're good enough at scrounging for supplies to be label the Ultimate Scavenger, right. You're not useless," Hoist tried to comfort him. "Look, some people may not have an immediate effect on the war effort, or reconstruction effort, but in the long run, prove to be invaluable due to how long they had been working. I think that describes both me and you, Scavenger," Hoist said. "All I do is repair stuff. Not exactly a very showy job."

"Yeah, I guess you got a point," Scavenger said, looking at Hoist. "You know, when we get out of here, I'll get you a high-grade."

"Fine by me."

* * *

"I forgot how much of a shrimp you are," Skywarp mocked, looking down at Bumblebee.

"Doesn't stop me from kicking your aft half the time," Bumblebee strike backed.

"Hmm, point taken," Skywarp conceded, crossing his arm. "So, oh magnanimous member of the Autobot, why did you decide to waste _my_ time," Skywarp asked. "I mean, look! There are two people all by himself with no one to talk to sense someone did their math wrong and put 14 Autobots with 16 Decepticons!" Skywarp complained out loud.

"Wait, what?" Bumblebee asked before taking a headcount to make sure. "You're right, the numbers are uneven. Now why is that?" Bumblebee asked.

"What so strange about it. It's not like it's currently helping our situation. It's probably because there are more genuinely talented Decepticons than there are Autobots," Skywarp said.

"That big blue mech sitting by himself in the corner; what's his skill?" Bumblebee asked.

"I don't know. I looked up everybody before we came here and I don't remember him."

"Nor do I remember him," Bumblebee said, before looking at the other con by himself. "And him?" he asked.

"Got in through a lottery," Skywarp said.

"A lottery?"

"Yeah. They randomly choose someone to go and it picked Nautilator," Skywarp explained.

"That's a very odd way of choosing some to teach at the academy," Bumblebee mused.

"Yeah, well, I don't decide how they're picked. I just came here to get away from Starscream," Skywarp explained.

"Things not good between you two?"

"He's no Megatron."

* * *

"Alright, they lump me with a psychopath. Woo," Blurr cheered as he met Vortex.

"Hey," Vortex said with his arms outstretched, "what's wrong with talking to someone who knows how to cut you up into really tiny pieces?" Vortex asked.

"I think that's rhetorical," Blurr said, really wishing he was away from this creep.

"Aw, Blurr baby, don't act like that. If you want, I can make way for some special time with you," Vortex offered. Blurr's spinal strut shuddered at how he said that.

"No thank you. The last time someone gave me special time, I ended up without a hand and a gearbox for a few weeks," Blurr rebutted.

"Aw, you're no fun," Vortex whined. "Can't you at least pretend you're interested?" Vortex asked.

"_NO!_"

* * *

Brawl and Hound looked at each other, trying to figure out what to say.

"So," Brawl began, "nice color."

"Same to you."

Silence.

"Don't you usually have a missile launcher?"

"I do, but someone took it."

"Ah."

Silence.

"This is an interesting conversation we're having.

"Very."

More awkward silence.

"I'm gonna go."

"Good idea."

* * *

Nautilator took a seat next to Counterpunch. "So, nice weather we're having."

"Say one more sentence to me and I'll make you eat your circuitry."

"Right, lovely conversation. I'll be over there, where's it _safe_."

* * *

Eventually, the couples got together in bigger groups, talking to each other about similar things. The crowd had to begrudgingly admit that some of them were starting to get close. Perceptor and Shockwave were getting in-depth in their science conversation, with Soundwave and Hound joining in. The Combaticons tried to get Onslaught, only to have him shoo them off so he can continue to teach Beachcomber, leaving them to go hang with Chromedome and his group, along with Smokescreen, Drift, and Nautilator. Scavenger and Hoist stuck together, with Blurr coming to join them to get away from the 'psychopathic helicopter.' Jazz, Mirage, Ratchet, and Bumblebee talked to Skywarp, Knockout, and Bludgeon, who were discussing ways out of the facility. Counterpunch ignored everybody, choosing to stay by himself. There was a peace among them.

"Attention teachers!" Until that shrill, obnoxious voice came back. "It seems like you are all bonding with each other, which means it's time for me to make my entrance. Yay!" the voiced said.

"Finally!" Brawl yelled out, cracking his knuckles. "Come out here so I can crush you," he commended.

"Don't worry, I'm coming. Get ready!" the voice said. The group waited in anticipation for the figure to come out. Suddenly the voiced started up again. "Here I come. The great, magnificent Headmaster Monobear!" the voice said, coming out from behind the podium. The anxious and angry looks from everybody soon turned way to confusion at the sight of the Headmaster. The creature looked like a stuffed teddy bear that could only reached to their ankles. His fur was colored white on the left side and black on the other, with a black eye on the left and what looked like a red wound for the right. The response from everybody to this unlikely foe was summarize quite effectively by Skywarp.

"Wat."


	5. Prologue: Exploration

**AN: I hate to sound bitchy, but could it hurt you to leave a review? Or at the very least send a PM so I can get a feel of whether this good or not.**

"Is this a joke?" Bumblebee asked, staring at the creature.

"A joke? Of course not!" Monobear answered happily. "Now, before any you start freaking out, let's go over the ground rules in this Academy of Mutual Killing!"

"Mutual killing?" Hoist wondered.

"Okay, first off, welcome students to you new home forever!"

"New home?" Onslaught asked.

"Forever?" Knock Out wondered.

"Students?" Rewind wondered.

"Wait hold on! Were you just confused by me calling you students?" Monobear asked Rewind.

"Uh, yeah. We were invited over by the letter as teachers," Rewind answered. Monobear looked at him oddly before looking behind the podium for something.

"Hold on. Hold on. Ah, found it!" Monobear exclaimed, coming back from the podium. "A sample letter to you bastards that shows that-" the bear paused. "What the heck? It does refer to you as teachers. No matter, I'll just have to change my wording a bit," the teddy said, putting away the letter. "Anyway, any of you going to complain about being here forever?"

"Does it matter? We're just going to blow ourselves a way out of here or the Autobots and Decepticons outside will bust in and rescue us," Drift replied. At that, the bear looked at him oddly, before giving a hardy laugh.

"Autobots and Decepticons… Coming to save you… that's rich!" the bear said, before composing itself. "Anyway, I don't know why you want to leave. You all decided to come here."

"That was before the academy became a prison," Perceptor replied back.

"Dude, this doesn't make sense. We all need to get back home," Beachcomber said.

"Didn't I just tell you that his is your new home?" the bear chastised, before continuing its spiel. "Anyway, there is a way out of here," the bear said, leaving hope in some of the teachers' sparks.

"A way out? Than tell us already before I crush you," Counterpunch threatened, pounding his fists together.

"In order to leave you must graduate! Or whatever the equivalent amongst teachers is. Retirement, maybe?" the bear wondered, scratching its chin. "Meh, I'll just keep graduation."

"Just tell us how to graduate already," Swindle complained.

"Alright, alright. In order to graduate, you must… get away with murder!"

"What!" came a chorus of people at the same time.

"Uh-hun. That's right. Ever better, every single one of you before has killed, which makes things much more interesting," the bear cheered. "Of course, most of those were nameless nobodies you didn't care about. This? You know people and you're going to have to kill them! That a thousand times more exciting than just murdering nameless mooks all day long!" Monobear replied happily. "Oh, the competition is going to be great this year."

"Okay, this stupid," Skywarp said, getting on top of the stage. "Either this is an elaborate prank or you're a moron if you think we're just going to follow you're rules," Skywarp threaten.

"He's doing something stupid," Jazz whisper to Soundwave.

"Very foolish."

"Hey, wait until I'm done explaining everything," the bear ordered.

"No, you listen, you dumb bear," Skywarp threaten, grabbing the bear and bringing the thing to chest level.

"Ah! Rule breaker!" the bear shouted, before suddenly going stiff.

"What the-? Can anybody tell me what happen to the bear?" Skywarp asked, not noticing the ticking coming from it.

"Ticking? Wait…" Nightbeat mused before suddenly realizing. "Scrap, throw it! It's a bomb!" he shouted.

"What?" Skywarp asked.

"Throw it, you idiot!" Vortex yelled. Skywarp looked worried, before quickly throwing it into the air. Not long after, it exploded in mid-air, surprising the teachers.

"Was that bear a K-class? Oh, man, I wished I fragged it," Wildrider complained, causing a couple of people to look at him strangely.

"What's a K-class," the bear asked, coming from behind Skywarp and now at waist height.

"What the-?" Skywarp asked, jumping back.

"Ah, doom bots. I should've known," Shockwave noticed.

"As for you," the bear said, pointing at Skywarp, "consider that a warning." Skywarp nodded dully, heading back to his seat. "Now then, before I leave, I got something to give you," the bear announced and clapped his hands, causing a box to come out of the ground. "In here are your electroID cards. When you turn them on, they display your name, so no excuses for picking the wrong one! In there, among other things, is a list of rules to follow during your stay here. Read those before you decide to do anything. The rest of the rooms in this building will now open. Now, ta-da stu-, uh teachers. Man I wished I was still dealing with students," the bear puffed before disappearing out of sight. Everyone looked at each other, taking in the words that the bear had said. In order to get out, they had to kill each other?

"Alright, everybody," Bumble started, getting on the staged. "We'll discuss what the bear said later. Let's all get one of those electroID cards," Bumble ordered, heading to the box and opening the box. He grabbed it and turned it on. "Hound, this is yours," he said, waiting for the bot to come picked his up. This kept going until everybody got one. Bumblebee, having finally got his, turned his on. Immediately, it showed his named among a white background before showing a table of contents. Bumblebee quickly clicked on the rules section and looked at the rules.

1. Teacher may never be allowed to leave the academy under any circumstance, except for graduation.

2. The period between 10pm and 7am (human time, Bumblebee noted) is 'Night Time.' Certain areas will be off-limits in this time frame, some electrical appliances will be offline, and the lights will be on backup power.

3. Students may only sleep in there dormitory apartments and nowhere else.

4. Available areas of the academy may be explored without limitations. More areas will be available as time goes on.

5. Destroying the cameras are against the rules and any perpetrators will be punished.

6. Violence against the Headmaster, Monobear, is strictly forbidden.

7. Graduation: In order to leave the island, a teacher must successfully murder one of his or her fellow teachers, and not be found out by the others. Only the teacher who has successfully hidden his or her guilt will be permitted to leave.

7.1 A murder will be announced once three uninvolved teachers have found the body

7.2 The culprit can murder no more than two other teachers

8. More rules will be added when necessary

"You know," Bumblebee noted, "aside from rule 7, these are all reasonable, or at least what I expected from an academy."

"Yeah, but this academy expects us to murder each other for someone else's sick pleasure," Chromedome reminded him. "Did anybody take rule 7 seriously?" he asked the room. No one answered. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"Listen," Jazz announced. "I say we take the time to explore the rest of the area and see what the bear unlocked. We'll deal with the other buildings when those open up to us," he said to the room.

"I agree. It would be the most logical way to assess the situation," Shockwave agreed. "The electoIDs mentioned that this building has five floors. We should separate into groups of six and investigate them," Shockwave recommended.

"Alright. We got a job to do," Bumblebee said to the group. "Let's get to it.

* * *

"Looks like we found the cafeteria," Hoist said as they entered the room.

"Cool," Jazz said as he looked around the place.

"Could be useful," Onslaught said, looking around the place. He went and entered the room in the back. "Hey, there's a lot of energon here!" he yelled out. Everyone came in to look at it.

"That is a very healthy amount," Knock Out mentioned.

"We could survive on that for at least a few days," Nautilator agreed.

"And it doesn't look contaminated," Drift noticed.

"And it restocks every day!" Monobear shouted from behind them.

"Gah!" Nautilator shouted and jumped back, accidently crashing into the pile of energon. The pile came down, trapping him in it.

"Are you sure he's Ultimate Luck?" Monobear asked.

"What is the reason for your presence?" Onslaught asked, ignoring the floundering Nautilator trying to get out of the pile of energon.

"Just to inform you about the restocking. Having you rationing out would make you least energetic when it comes to making the kill," Monobear explained.

"We won't take part in your games, dude," Drift rebutted.

"So they all say. So they all say," Monobear left off ominously as he disappeared.

"What exactly did he meant by that?" Knock Out asked. Jazz gave an idea.

"I don't think we're the first to play his games."

* * *

"This looks like the dormitory rooms," Bumblebee noticed as they came to an extremely long hallway. The hallway was indeed long, with fifteen doors on each side. He was with Blurr, Hound, Vortex, Brawl, and Scavenger. "Let's see what they look like," he ordered, everyone quickly heading to their designated room that had his name and a small sprite on it. Bumblebee looked and saw that it required his electrode and slid it over the device. The door unlocked and Bumblebee pushed the handle, opening the door.

The room was very nice, Bumblebee decided at an instant. It was a lavishly sized room, incorporating a bed, drawers, shelves, and tables. In the other room, Bumblebee noticed it was a private bathroom, holding a shower and a sink. Could be useful if he wanted to clean his chassis. The window was boarded just like the other windows, a metal plate boarding the windows and there was a camera in the room. Bumblebee searched the rest of the room, looking in the drawers and closet for anything that could help him out. Once he concluded his search and found nothing, he headed back in the hall to see everyone except Vortex waiting there.

"It looks like they want to keeps as well-kept while we're here," Hound noticed.

"Yeah, it actually has a shower. Something to clean myself with," Scavenger gleefully said.

"Don't get too happy. This is just to lower our down," Blurr warned. "Did anybody else noticed the patterns with the rooms?" he asked them.

"Pattern?" Bumblebee asked.

"Yeah, every room has someone from a different faction either next to them or right across from them," Blurr told them.

"Probably to make us keep our guard up," Brawl replied.

"Yeah, probably, although there was a deviation," Blurr said.

"Who?"

"Counterpunch. That guy is surrounded by Decepticons," Blurr responded.

"Hmm, the mystery about that guy deepens. We don't know his talent and he's surrounded by Decepticons? Has to be suspicious," Bumblebee thought.

"Yeah, might be. Anyway, where's Vortex?" Brawl asked. At that moment, Vortex came out of his room.

"Woo, that was awesome!" he said, stretching his arms.

"What was awesome?" Brawl asked.

"What? You didn't hear?" he asked them.

"Hear what?" Hound asked.

"Weird…" Vortex muttered. "All of you come to my door. I think we just found something useful about these rooms," he said, heading back to his doorway. The others glanced at each other, looking suspicious, before going to the doorway. They arrived to see Vortex preparing for something. "You ready?" The all said yes. "Good," he said, before beginning his thing.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, causing all of them to hold an hand to their audio recepotors. Just as suddenly, he closed the door, silencing his screams. The others looked surprised, looking at each other oddly, before Vortex opened the door, as normal as before. "You guys heard me after I closed the door?" he asked.

"No, thank Primus," Bumblebee responded angrily.

"Ah, good, than that's proof. These rooms are soundproof," Vortex told them, causing everybody to look at each other.

"Soundproof," Hound muttered. "This means…"

"Somebody can murder someone in their room without anybody hearing," Blurr finished.

* * *

"Looks like the art room," Beachcomber said, as the group walked into a room.

"Ah, art. The one thing I always sucked at," Rewind complained.

"I think everybody sucks at it," Chromedome said.

"Oh, Deady. Isn't art your thing?" Wildrider asked him.

"Poetry," he replied.

"I hope some of them speak of warrior's death," Bludgeon remarked.

"Some, yes," he replied. "They talk about a lot of things. Politics, war, death…"

"Practically the things Cybertron was founded on."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Beachcomber ordered. "We're done with that."

"The first two, maybe, but death?" Dead End paused, waiting the for the little blue bot's attention. "Death is a constant."

* * *

"Finally, something good has been discovered," Perceptor said as he entered a room to see a laboratory.

"This whole floors looks to be dedicated to the endeavors of science," Shockwave noticed.

"Which I'm sure pleases you very much," Blast Off murmured from the side.

"It is certainly an improvement of the situation," Shockwave answered, heading to the chemical cabinets. Mixmaster was standing off from the side, observing a selection of chemicals silently while Ratchet and Swindle were in another room by themselves in what appeared to be an infirmary. "With the chemicals here, we could be able to create a way out of here."

"Forgive me for being cynical, but I doubt the bear would just let all this chemicals out in the open if he didn't make sure the walls could withstand whatever you can come up with," Blast Off remarked, standing with his back to the wall with his arm crossed.

"Maybe, but there's one than more way out of any building than with just explosives," Shockwave replied, looking at a bottle of acid in his hand. "We could always melt our way out of here."

"Hmm, maybe."

Meanwhile, Ratchet and Swindle was looking at the tools in the infirmary. "Holy scrap, these are some really good blades," Swindle mentioned.

"How would you know?" Ratchet asked, observing the scalpel.

"You see that scalpel you're holding?" Swindle asked. Ratchet nodded. "That's made out of a synthetic diamond alloys as well as every other blade here. Everything else here made of some of the best stuff available on the market. This set easily reaches into the tens of thousands range," Swindle educated. "There's also a backup set that uses obsidian blades."

"So, if someone was hurt, I could fix them easily," Ratchet replied.

"Of course, that is if you can reach them in time," Swindle replied, leaving it off on a solemn note. Ratchet understood what he implied.

A murderer would make sure someone was dead before they found them.

* * *

"Hmm… this looks interesting," Nightbeat murmured, looking at the sole room that made up the fifth floor. Inside, on the opposite side, was a giant TV. In front of them were several consoles, each with many screens on them.

"A/V room," Soundwave said.

"I imagine you and Rewind will spent a lot of your time here," Smokescreen mentioned off-handily. "You two spent most of your time on these things or filming others."

"I hate it," Counterpunch remarked. "I want to smash them."

"Dude, seriously, you need to calm down," Skywarp mentioned, messing with a console. "All you say is murder this or smash this. You need more unique dialogue than that," he chastised.

"Mocking him is a good way to end up in danger," Mirage warned.

"Relax," Counterpunch said, surprising them. "If I were to murder someone, it would be one of you Autobots, not my own side. I'm not a traitor. I followed Megatron's order to the letter."

"See, you're on the verge of saying something," Skywarp mocked.

"Of course, I can make an exception."

* * *

Afterwards, the groups met up in the cafeteria an hour later to over what they had found on each floor. Jazz's group took the lead, describing the first floor in detail. Besides the cafeteria, there was a gift shop, garbage disposal room, and the classrooms, along with a cargo elevator that went down and a infirmary. The second floor concentrated mostly on the dormitories, not having much else except for another infirmary on that floor as well. The third floor was a lot more art focus, having many rooms built for it as well as a couple of supply closets, a lounge, and another infirmary in it. The fourth was science based, having many labs in it as well as another lounge area in it. The fifth was just the A/V room, having nothing else in it.

"Well, looks like we got a lot to do in this building," Drift mumbled.

"Tell me, did anybody else noticed the closed off doors on their floors?" Jazz asked the group.

"Now that you mentioned it, our floor had two areas closed, each on opposing ends.

"As well as ours," Perceptor mentioned.

"Same," Rewind said.

"Ditto," Skywarp agreed.

"Hmm, it seems there is more to this building that we're excluded from. Perhaps time will provide us a chance to check it out," Drift wondered.

"Like we're going to be here long enough to look at them," Counterpunched countered.

"Good point."

"Anyway, what time is it?" Scavenger asked the group.

"According to the clocks here, which are on Earth time, it's 7:30 P.M. Getting pretty late," Bumblebee answered.

"Well then, let's have some energon and rest for the dead," Beachcomber suggested.

"Yeah, I guess that's fine. It's not like anybody took the stupid bear seriously, right?" Drift asked the group.

"Alright. First, since we need to work together, let's push these tables together so we can all sit in one group," Onslaught recommended. "It will help build trust among us."

"Onslaught, I can't you're making us do this again," Swindle sighed, getting a table. Eventually, the group formed a rectangle, featuring ten on two sides and five on the others. Onslaught and Beachcomber grabbed the energon and handed to everybody, who all took a seat together; sitting in-between members of the other side, to make sure the other side could trust each other. The only one who didn't was Counterpunch for numbering reason, who sat in-between Skywarp and Bludgeon.

"Alright," Jazz began, taking after taking a gulp of his energon, "why don't we introduce each other? The war was big, so I doubt we all know each other." The group stared at each other before consenting. "Alright. I'm Jazz, as I'm sure most of you know. Ultimate Audiophile.

"Brawl. Brawler. Shouldn't have been too hard to figure out."

"Mirage, Ultimate Scion."

"Dead End. Poet."

"Bumblebee. Scout."

"Mixmaster. Ultimate Chemist."

"Blurr. Ultimate Racer."

"Skywarp. Ultimate Prankster, baby."

"Counterpunch." He didn't say his talent.

"Bludgeon. Ultimate Metallikato Expert."

"Drift. Ultimate Swordsman."

"Nautilator. Ultimate Luck. Didn't specify which."

"Hoist. Ultimate Repairer."

"Blast Off. Sniper."

"Rewind. Archivist."

"Wildrider. Ultimate Manic, WOO!"

"Chromedome. Mnemosurgeon."

"Onslaught. Tactician."

"Beachcomber. Geologist.

"Swindle. Merchant."

"Smokescreen. Gambler."

"Knock Out. Fashionista."

"Ratchet. Medic."

"Scavenger. I'm, well, Ultimate Scavenger."

"Perceptor. Ultimate Scientist."

"Shockwave. Logician."

"Hound. Preservationist.

"Vortex. Interrogator."

"Nightbeat. Detective."

"Soundwave. Communications Director."

The group memorized each other's name and talent for future reference before heading to different topics. Most of it was about how long before the Autobots get them out of there and about Monobear. The consensus was that they would be here soon and that the bear was really a cover for the real headmaster, whoever they are. Eventually, it went onto too more trivial things, like where everyone was living and how they were helping the Reconstruction effort. None of them went to discuss the killing that the bear wanted them to do to each other, preferring to keep it casual.

No one wanted to think about killing each other. Not yet, anyway.


	6. Prologue: The End of the Beginning

After dinner, most of the teachers headed up to their room to rest for the day. The only exceptions were Jazz and Onslaught, who took time to clean up the area for their side. "So," Jazz began, hoping to start a situation, "how long you think we're going to be trapped here?"

"We should've been out earlier today. They know where we went and I know several of us made obligations to contact people on the outside. At the very least, we should be hearing people trying to get us out. Why are we hearing nothing outside?" Onslaught asked.

"Are you still hoping that the Autobots and Decepticons are going to get you out?" Monobear asked suddenly, appearing out of nowhere. The two mechs looked shocked before putting a grim face on.

"They should. Nothing has been going on outside that could cause this," Jazz said.

"But, it like, oh whatever you are said, why haven't they attempted to get you out yet? You think they would care about you. Or maybe they don't care at all about you," the bear taunted.

"I have never been as tempted to crush something before as I am now," Onslaught threaten.

"Ah, ah, ah, remember? No violence against the headmaster unless you want to be punished," the bear reminded.

"I know, otherwise you would be nothing but an impression on the ground right now."

"Oh, you are an eager bunch. I might not have to even do anything before you start killing," the bear cheered.

"Honestly, what is with your obsession with killing?" Jazz asked.

"Killing? I don't care about that. All I care about is one thing: despair," the bear informed him.

"Despair?"

"Yes! And what's more despair inducing than getting the best of the best and cause them to kill each other! You all are the hope of the future generations. How will people react when they start killing each other?" the bear lectured, leaving on an ominous note before disappearing. The two mechs looked at each other.

"That settles it," Onslaught said, "we cannot let that bear win."

* * *

"Thanks for letting me recharge with you," Rewind said to Chromedome as they entered his room.

"No problem. I don't blame you at all," Chromedome replied.

"Yeah. I just don't feel safe sleeping by myself. What if someone breaks in?" Rewind questioned.

"That depends on whether anyone wants to follow rule 7," Chromedome reminded him, closing the door.

"Yes, but let's be honest. Someone is going to want to get out sooner or later and kill someone and I know it's not going to be you, so we'll be safer together," Rewind cynically rebutted.

"Rewind, quit being cynical. That's my job," Chromedome joked, taking seat on the bed and gesturing for Rewind to come next to him. Rewind complied, taking his place next to him.

"I don't know why I'm so nervous," Rewind confessed, "but I don't think all of us are going to make it out of this building alive."

"I know. I feel the same," Chromedome admitted as well.

"I hope Optimus and everyone else can get us out of here and prove us wrong."

"As do I," laying down on the berth and gesturing for Rewind to do the same. He complied, laying next to him. "Rewind," Chromedome began, "as long as I am alive, no one will hurt you. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now get some sleep. You're going to need it tomorrow," Chromedome ordered.

"Alright. Good night."

"Good night to you as well."

* * *

"This is ridiculous," Swindle complained as he lay in a chair in one of the lounge room. "Does this bear really expect us to just go and off each other?"

"He seemed pretty adamant about it," Blast Off commented.

"Hmpf, whatever. Not like anybody going to take a little half-pint bear seriously," Smokescreen shrugged it off from the side, taking a drink of low-grade.

"Half-pint!" Monobear complained, appearing right next to Smokescreen. "Who are you calling half-pint!" the bear asked, getting in his face.

"I'm calling you a half-pint," Smokescreen answered, looking him straight in the eye.

"Hmpf, bunch of bastards you are. Insulting their headmaster so openly like that," the bear chastised.

"Maybe if he didn't come off as a complete aft and didn't tell us to kill each other, we might act a little differently to you," Swindle remarked from the side, drawing the ire of the bear.

"Oh, come on, from half-pint, to half-pint, we got to work together. We're both mocked for being short, so let's kill them," the bear coaxed.

"Uh, no," Swindle answered, going back to laying in his chair and ignoring him.

"Alright, how about you big guy?" Monobear asked, heading over to Blast Off.

"Leave," Blast Off ordered.

"Alright, alright sourpusses. You all are no fun," the bear said disappointingly before walking out the door.

"Well, that was fun."

"Agreed."

* * *

"Alright. This should do. Now we got to let this rest for the night," Mixmaster told his fellow scientists as he finished the acid.

"Good. We'll be out of here by tomorrow," Perceptor said happily.

"Are we sure this will work?" Shockwave asked.

"If it's metal, it'll melt," Mixmaster chanted.

"Good. We will test it tomorrow," Shockwave announced.

* * *

Ratchet lay on his bed, thinking about what today did to him and what he could do. As much as Ratchet would love it for Optimus to come and save them, he knew that if they wanted to, they would have already. It was up to them to defeat the headmaster and find a way out of the building. They had to do that while also making sure no one would listen to the bear and kill someone in an attempt to escape. It was a difficult task, but one that he knew they could do if they just keep calm, and not fall for any of the tricks that were laid out for them. Ratchet knew he wouldn't fall for any of them and he hoped no one else was thinking about falling for them.

But, he knew that one of them was already thinking of murder.

"This is an announcement," Monobear said, causing Ratchet to jump from his bed. Did someone already commit murder? "It is now 10 pm." _Oh, thank Primus_, Ratchet thought as he laid back down. "Please rest peacefully."

"Yeah, right," Ratchet muttered silently as he drifted off into recharge mode.

**End of Prologue**

**AN: Alright, prologue's done. Hope to start on chapter 1 soon.**


	7. Chapter 1: The Missing Acid

_**Day 2**_

"This is an announcement. It is now 7 am. Have a wonderful day."

Ratchet gave a low groan as he onlined his optics._ Looks like what happen last night wasn't a dream, _he thought to himself as he got out of the berth and out of the room. Blurr was already out, no surprise there. "Hey, Ratch," Blurr said, walking towards his direction. The stairs down were in his direction, of course. "Looks like what happen yesterday wasn't a dream."

"Unfortunately," Ratchet agreed, heading towards the stairs. Blurr quickly caught up and walked at an equal pace with him down the steps.

"Any ideas on who brought us here?" Blurr asked, trying to start a conversation.

"As of yet, no. The only definitive thing we know about them is that they are insanely rich and that's it," Ratchet informed him as they made it to the first floor.

"Not to mention the fact that they are sadists," Blurr interrupted.

"Of course, but that goes without saying. Anybody who subjects people to this is incurably sadistic."

The two kept going in silence until they reached the cafeteria and entered it, revealing no one else in it. The two quickly got a cube of energon and drank it at their place on their table, waiting for more to come. It didn't take long before other early risers entered.

"The early merchant gets the first customer," Swindle answered to his question of why he was up early.

"And my training," Onslaught remind him as he grabbed a cube and sat down. "The others will probably be late with nothing to do."

"Hey, everybody," Drift cheerfully said as he entered.

Counterpunch and Soundwave entered silently and took their seat.

"Woo!" Wildrider yelled as he jumped in. "Another beautiful day in Suck Academy."

"Why did I let you sleep with me last night?" Dead End complained as he went and got his cube.

"Because we're the best of friends," Wildrider answered him. "Thanks for stealing that low-grade out of the lounge. I went out like a protoform." Dead End ignored him and took his seat, Wildrider following. No one else was coming in for awhile so they just talk to each other.

"So, where does everybody live right now," Onslaught asked the table. "Me and Swindle both live in Iacon right now."

"As do I," Ratchet answered.

"Same," Drift answered.

"Wildrider and I live in Ibex," Dead End answered. "Reconstruction is coming along nicely."

"I go from place to place with no permanent residence, although I do spend a lot of my time in Ibex as well," Blurr answered.

"Kaon," Soundwave answered. Counterpunch gave a nod in agreement.

"Hmph, looks like we're all connected with someone," Onslaught murmured.

"I bet the numbers will go as more people get in here," Blurr said.

"What will go up?" The group turned to see Perceptor, Mixmaster and Shockwave entered the room.

"We're talking about where we live and all that stuff," Swindle answered.

"Hmm, well, I live in Iacon and Shockwave lives in Kaon," Perceptor replied to the question.

"I live wherever the Constructicons are needed. We move a lot," Mixmaster answered.

"What I figured," Onslaught said as the three scientist sat down.

"So, what are you three doing today?" Dead End asked them.

"We're testing an acid we cooked up in the science lab today. We hope it will be enough to open the vault of a door," Mixmaster answered.

"It is extremely durable," Shockwave mentioned.

The conversation floated to different mundane topics, letting in some of the more regular teachers.

"We was just wondering around the school a little bit," Hound said, including Mirage and Hoist.

"Nursing a hangover," Smokescreen answered, holding his head.

"I was lazy," Vortex answered.

"I didn't to admit that we were still stuck in this sinkhole," Brawl said.

Blast Off said nothing. Just got his cube and sat with others.

"I slept in just a little late," Jazz answered.

"Me and Rewind were exploring the A/V room a bit before we came here," Chromedome answered as they took a seat.

"I would've been here earlier, but I tripped on the stair on the way here and had to make a quick fix in the infirmary," Nautilator answered.

"I was, uh, doing nothing," Skywarp answered as he came in.

"SKYWARP!" they heard reverberating throughout the building from Bumblebee.

"Like I said, nothing," Skywarp answered taking a seat.

Scavenger entered, looking nervous. "Oh, boy. He looks mad," he muttered as he entered, getting his cube and taking his spot.

At that moment, Bumblebee came in, covered in pink paint. "Skywarp," he growled, marching towards him.

"Hey, Bumblebee, calm down!" Beachcomber called out from behind him, entering.

"It appears Skywarp started his pranking," Nightbeat muttered, striding in behind Beachcomber and stealing a cube.

"Yeah… see you later," Skywarp said before warping out. Bumblebee glared at where he was before stomping out.

"Taking a shower," he said before exiting the cafeteria and passing Bludgeon. He glanced at the pink scout for a second before shaking it off and getting his energon and place.

"What happen to the scout?" he asked the table.

"Skywarp poured some paint on him," Onslaught offered.

"Ah. Well, if the foolish one value's his life, he will stay away from me," Bludgeon threaten.

"Oh, wow! What happen to Bee," Knock Out asked as he entered, looking immaculate.

"Skywarp," Jazz said.

"Oh, suck to be him," Knock Out chuckled before taking a seat at the table. "SO, what's on the agenda today?" he asked them.

"Well, first we got to test out Mixmaster's acid and see if it can take care of the front door," Ratchet started, getting everybody's attention.

"Which I should go check on. Be right back," Mixmaster said, getting up and heading out of the cafeteria to the science department.

"After that, well, if it works we get out."

"And if it doesn't, we're stuck here," Blast Off coolly said, his first words since entering the room.

"Well, what else can we do besides finding a way out? Any entertainment?" Blurr asked.

"Well, I found some low-grade. Not too bad," Smokescreen told him.

"You could always paint and do some digital artwork on the third floor," Chromedome told him.

"I think the lounge area got some instruments up there. We could mess around with them," Swindle mentioned.

"A/V room got some discs. Might have something we can use," Nightbeat told him.

"You could check out the gift shop," Jazz offered.

"Right, so, not much to do," Blurr sighed.

"You want to know how you can get more to do?" Monobear asked as he appeared out of nowhere, taking Skywarp's seat right next to Blurr.

"Uh, that would be nice," Blurr awkwardly said.

"Alright, it's simple. Get somebody to kill someone!" the bear advised.

"Uh, besides that," Blurr rejected.

"Ugh, you guys are no fun. I mean, you're train killers. At least one of you should be dead by now!" the bear chastised.

"Maybe because we all hate you more than each other," Mirage offered.

"Why do you got to insult me like that?" the bear asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it's because you want us to _kill each other_," Mirage sarcastically said.

"Well, there's no need for you to be rude about it?" the bear huffed.

"We got a problem!" Mixmaster yelled out, entering the room.

"What?" Onslaught asked, standing up.

"The acid is missing!"

"Oh, that? I took it," the bear mentioned with a shrugged.

"You?"

"Yes. After all, can't have you attempting to escape, can I? Anyway, the acid wouldn't in the first place," the bear informed him.

"Why you little…," Mixmaster growl out, heading over to crush the evil bear.

"Woah, calm down Mixmaster," Jazz said, as him and Onslaught hold him back. "No need to get yourself killed over this," Jazz soothed. Mixmaster silently glared at the bear before relenting taking a seat back at the table as he glared at the bear.

"You know, because I'm such a nice headmaster, I'll give you your acid back with the original amount it had in it when I stole it," the bear offered. "Just don't use it to try and escape or else _I will_ punish you for it," the bear threaten before disappearing. The group silently looked at each other before Jazz announced:

"Alright. Breakfast is over."

* * *

"I'm telling you, it's nothing," Nautilator complained as Ratchet looked at his arm. Nautilator had covered it with a bit of malleable plastic, but opening it revealed that his statement was a complete lie. A piece of metal was sticking out of the wound, greatly exposing it to Ratchet.

"Dammit, Nautilator. This is a far cry from nothing. The strut is sticking out of your arm," Ratchet reprimanded. "You should've come to me immediately about this."

"And have another person think I'm nothing but a giant screw-up? Fat chance," Nautilator shot back.

"Right, do you know this can become infected with technopathogens? If you had just told me about this in worse conditions, I would've had to chop it off," Ratchet told him as he moved in his arm in position. "Now, at the count of five, I'm going to push this strut back into position and reattach it, got it?" he asked him.

"Yeah…" Nautilator said nervously.

"Alright, on your go."

"Okay. One… Tw-AGH!" Nautilator screamed out as Ratchet move the strut back in place. "I thought you said on five!"

"If I did, you would've back out earlier," Ratchet told him before he started reattaching the strut.

"Oh, come on. You think this is the first time this has happened to me?" he asked.

"I imagine not," Ratchet said, not really paying attention as he was fixing his arm.

"I think this like the… twenty-seventh time my arm has been like this. A few times they had to chop it off, but we can always build new one."

"I know. I've got your medical records," Ratchet mentioned off-handily. "I've met a few accident prone people, but never to the extent that you are."

"How do you have my medical records?" the seacon asked, shocked.

"I found them here on the first day. Someone really did there research on us, as they are all accurate," Ratchet told him.

"What? How did they get them?" Nautilator asked.

"Probably bribed a few people. Considering how rich the guy probably is, it isn't too much of a stretch," Ratchet said as he finished reattaching the strut to the joint and was closing the wound.

"That… is impressive, in a really disturbing way," he murmured.

"No kidding. I even found one on _me_, for Primus's sake." He paused in his work. "I don't remember a file on me," he mused before he continued repairing it and finished. "There. Done. Now," Ratchet said, placing plastic on the closed wound, "keep that on it and your auto-repair systems should finished the rest."

"Thanks," Nautilator said, getting off the bed and heading out of the infirmary.

"Right. Let me check on it every day after until it's completely healed," Ratchet ordered him.

"Alright," Nautilator said with a wave of his hand, leaving Ratchet by himself. Ratchet gave a grumble about an accident prone Seacon before putting his tools in the right place.

* * *

"Someone drinking early," Ratchet remarked as he took a seat next to Smokescreen in the lounge on the fourth floor. Smokescreen was currently downing a cube of low-grade. Across from them on the other side were Blurr, Jazz and Hoist. Jazz was telling Blurr about how to play a bass while Hoist was just an observer.

"Yeah, well, there's nothing here to interest me so I'll just drink out in the open where everybody can see me," Smokescreen said.

"Worry someone's going to put a knife through your back?" Ratchet asked.

"You could say that," Smokescreen muttered. "I doubt anyone on our side is going to kill anyone, so I'm just making sure no Decepticons get too close to me."

"No Decepticons?"

"Well, I speak to Swindle sometime, but I make sure it's in public and I'm sober. Just because I consider him my friend doesn't mean I trust him," Smokescreen informed him.

"Personally, if you're paranoid of everybody, just go in your room and lock the door so no one can get in," Ratchet advised him.

"Come on, Ratchet. I got to talk to some people otherwise I'll go insane."

"Point taken."

"Look, we just rest here for a few days until the nerds figure a way out of here and kick the guy running this right in his aft," Smokescreen told him. "Once that's done, I think I'll take everyone here to the bar and buy them a cube of high-grade. Especially you as you need to loosen up a bit."

"How charitable of you," Ratchet complimented with a bit of gruff in his voice.

"What I'm here for."

* * *

Lunch came and the others got there cube and, instead of all eating together, head to separate areas of the building. Ratchet headed upstairs to see how the scientists were on how they can use the acid without facing any punishments from the headmaster.

"I'm telling you, someone took some of the acid," Mixmaster was saying. Ratchet entered the room to see Perceptor, Mixmaster, and Shockwave looking over the vial of acid. "The vial was almost full when we put it back for the night and a small amount is missing now."

"It does look like there is a little bit less…." Perceptor looked to see Ratchet entered the room. "Hello Ratchet. We may have a problem," Perceptor informed him.

"Problem?"

"We think some of the acid was stolen," Perceptor informed him.

"It is a disturbing thought," Shockwave chimed in.

Ratchet felt his spark sink. Could someone already be planning murder?

"Could Monobear had taken it?" Ratchet asked.

"I doubt it. For all the sadism he has in him, he seems like a stickler for the rules and probably did nothing to the amount of it."

"Which leaves us with just about anybody could've taken it. Anyone could've been up at night and stole it.

"Judging from my estimates, about enough to kill two people are missing from this. We should be more careful around everybody with this knowledge," he advised the group. "We should put a couple guards overwatching the energon."

"And the drinks in the lounges," Ratchet told him.

"Yes, those too," Mixmaster agreed. "We'll alert everybody when dinner comes around. Makes sure everyone is in attendance," he told the room. "We have to make sure everyone is alert about the threat."

"Can we rule anyone out as stealing it? Anyone, even one of us, could've stolen it," Perceptor asked the room.

"Probably Wildrider. This morning, he told us that he drank a lot of low-grade last night and was knocked out pretty early. Probably was in recharge mode before the evening announcement. Dead End can confirm it," Ratchet answered.

"Great. One down, twenty-nine more to go," Mixmaster sardonically replied. "Besides, even if we had no proof he stole it, I would count him out. He's more of a stab-and-shoot kind."

"By that logic, we could eliminate Drift and Bludgeon from the suspect pool. Neither uses anything other than melee weapons and would probably not want the poison."

"Brawl probably didn't take it either. Same reason," Mixmaster hypothesized.

"Alright, so we struck four off the list of possible suspects. We should keep a close eye on every one," Ratchet warned everybody.

"Alright, until dinner, relax and keep your optics on. We don't want anyone dying today," Mixmaster told the room.

* * *

An hour before dinner came, Ratchet was walking down first floor, seeing if anybody was doing anything, and stumbled upon the scientists and Jazz working on a door next to the cargo elevator. "Oh, hey Ratchet. We're trying o get this door opened," Jazz responded to him as Mixmaster successfully melt the internal locking mechanism and opened the door.

"Didn't Monobear said something about this?" Ratchet asked the group.

"Nope!" Monobear said, appearing out of nowhere next to Ratchet. Ratchet gave a silent grumble, already used to the bear sudden appearances.

"Which rule permitted them to get in?"

"Rule four, of course. Well the door was locked, but I was just going to open it after the first murder. It serves no purpose right now," Monobear added.

"What serves no purpose right now?" Ratchet asked.

"Why don't you come and see!" Mixmaster yelled out to him. Ratchet ignored the bear and looked in the door to see a shock.

A working groundbridge.

"A groundbridge?"

"Yep! A working groundbridge, but don't think you can use it to escape. I've specially modified it to only transport students to other active groundbridges inside the school. It's practically useless until you open up more areas of the school," Monobear told them.

"Huh, well, I guess it's better than nothing," Jazz muttered to himself.

"Any-who, bye-bye," the bear said, before disappearing again.

"We really need to put a bear on that damn bear," Ratchet said to them.

"Maybe, but for now, we to get Soundwave," Shockwave told the room.

"He is the most experience when it comes to groundbridges. Perhaps he could manipulate a way out of the building using the groundbridge," Perceptor agreed.

"Right, we'll get him to look at it after dinner. Until then, I guess there's nothing more we can do with it," Jazz said, walking out of the room. The rest followed suit, leaving Ratchet to observe the groundbridge by himself. Ratchet couldn't get rid of the ominous feeling the groundbridge was giving him, but why? Ratchet pushed that thought away and exited the room. It was best to wait until later, when they had learned more about their predicament.

* * *

Dinner came, and Jazz and the scientists made sure everyone stayed to discuss the events of today. The group came in pretty quickly, looking okay. The only one who looked to have problems with each other was Bumblebee and Skywarp, who were glaring at each other. Obviously, Bumblebee hasn't got over the paint incidence yet. Other than that, everybody was friendly enough. At the very least, they all tolerated each other. Still, Ratchet couldn't get rid of the thought that one of them was already planning murder.

Shortly after it started, Mixmaster announced to everyone the missing amount of acid missing when Monobear returned it to him, indicating someone stole some that night. Everyone reacted with varying amounts of surprise and some of the more paranoid ones were already glaring at everybody. Perceptor told the group that they would have to start watching the energon and low-grade in pairs. Onslaught and Beachcomber agreed to watch the energon in the cafeteria, while Swindle and Smokescreen agreed to the third floor lounge and Hoist and Dead End agreed to the fourth floor lounge.

"With that done," Mixmaster said to the group, "we also found a groundbridge in a locked room down by the cargo elevator. We are currently usable to use it to transport us somewhere outside the school, but we figure with Soundwave's help, we can hack it to get us outside the school."

"I will see what I can do," Soundwave answered.

"Good. Now then, was there anything else to mention?" he asked his fellow scientist.

"None at the moment," Shockwave said. Perceptor similarly nodded.

"Alright," Jazz said, "Everybody who has guard duty, let's get to it. Not anything more to say."

"Thank Primus," Skywarp said before warping out of the room. Everyone shared similar sentiments and walked out to do something else or head to their posts.

* * *

"I'm worried," Ratchet heard Blurr said to Smokescreen as he waited around in the third floor lounge. "We've been here for almost two whole days now and I've not heard a single thing outside."

"I know," Smokescreen replied, the low-grade making his emotions come out a bit more. "At the very least, we should've heard Optimus tried to talk in that way too loud voice of his to let us out, but… nothing. Not a peep."

"You think something is going on outside?"

"What do you think?

Ratchet tried to block this conversation out as he settled into his chair. He always trusted Optimus, but there was nothing from the outside world. What could've happen out there?

"Hey," he heard a familiar smooth voice said. He turned his head over to Swindle, who was sitting right next to him. "Are you alright?" he asked, a cocky grin planted right in his face.

"Well, let's see," Ratchet replied quickly, "we're stuck in this Primus-forsaken building with no way out right now, a bear trying to get us to kill each other, and I'm looking into your smug face. Tell me, do you think I'm alright?" Ratchet asked him.

"No, probably not," Swindle replied, looking thoughtful for a second before looking back at Ratchet. "Tell me, what do you think got the big OP and Screamer so occupied that they can't rescue us from this hellhole?" he asked him slyly. Ratchet sighed in anger. He blocked out Blurr and Smokescreen for just this reason and now Swindle was forcing this on him.

"I don't know, maybe they erected defenses," Ratchet said.

"Ratchet, let me tell you, if they did that, we would've been all over this place earlier. It's unthinkable they could smuggle that many weapons under our noses. Trust me on this," Swindle told him.

"So, maybe Megatron is alive again and Optimus is too busy stopping him to help us," Ratchet said quickly.

"If that happen, he would instantly assume that this was all a part of his plan and got us out quickly," Swindle countered.

"Than… than… I don't know. A situation like this has never happen before," Ratchet confessed.

"Exactly, nobody knows. We lack information, which is very odd don't you think?" Swindle asked him. Ratchet looked at him oddly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, just two days ago, we were all outside, getting ready to visit this school. No prophecy or signals from somewhere to indicate something is wrong. So, why the sudden lack of information. The lack of anything outside happening. Why is that happening?" Swindle questioned, his smile fading.

"Because… we're missing something," Ratchet said.

"Exactly, the question is what? What are we missing?" Swindle asked him. "Nothing was going on and then it just seemed like the world just went and died again overnight. Why is that?" Swindle finished before speaking again. "You should probably go rest. It's almost time for the evening announcement," Swindle told him.

"It is?" Ratchet asked, looking at the clocks. It was 9:30 PM.

"Getting late. Me and Smokescreen will stay until midnight. After that, we'll head off to recharge."

"Wait, a question of my own," ratchet told him. Swindle smiled again.

"I'm all ears."

"What do you think happen outside?" Swindle's smile deaden.

"I don't know," he answered, heading to where Blurr and Smokescreen were. "If you want to talk to somebody else who's really interested, talk to Dead End. He's been speaking metaphorically a lot about it. Could know something," he said over his shoulder, leaving Ratchet by himself. Ratchet contemplated the surprisingly thoughtful conversation with Swindle before heading out of the room, looking to find Dead End.

* * *

"This is an announcement. It is now 10 PM. Please rest peacefully."

Ratchet opened the door to his room as some of the lights turned off in the hallway. He couldn't find Dead End anywhere in the available area, so he assumed that he went to his room. He was about to knock and see if he would let him in until he remember that Wildrider was probably still in the room and Ratchet would _not_ tolerate maniacs. He headed to his room and got in his bed, ready to recharge. Ratchet didn't quite know what tomorrow had in stored for him, but he knew he was getting Dead End y himself to talk with. Any new information with what going on outside would be invaluable in this situation. As Ratchet headed off to sleep, he could think of only one thing.

What could Dead End know?


	8. Chapter 1: Screen Scenarios

_**Day 3**_

"Wakey, wakey, Deady," Dead End barely heard as he felt Wildrider shaking him.

"What?" He mumbled, onlining his optic to see his grinning face.

"It's 6:30. I want to beat everyone else to the cafeteria today," Wildrider told him. Dead End had to give him credit; he took being trapped in a school by a psychotic bear in stride.

"May I ask what's the point of that? It's not even open yet," he asked.

"Yeah, but it will be in thirty minutes. If we get there before them, we can rub it in their faces that we beat them."

"You're sounding like Dragstrip."

"Yeah, well, I kinda missed his 'always beat everyone' attitude. Come on, we're Stunticons. The least we can do is act like the rest of them are here," he tried to convince him.

"So, you want us to beat everyone, like Dragstrip, be paranoid of everyone, like Breakdown, and be angry at everyone, like Motormaster," Dead End said.

"Exactly! Well, except Motormaster. Dude's a grade-A Slagger," Wildrider told him. Dead End gave a groaned before standing up.

"Might as well go today. You already woke me from my slumber and the psychotic bear will make the morning announcement soon," Dead End conceded, standing up and heading to the shower. "Let me make sure I'm clean first."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Dead End and Wildrider were right in front of the cafeteria, waiting for the doors to be unlocked. The doors were locked and no one could get in, leaving the two Stunticons to think of a way to entertain themselves. "So," Dead End began, "who do you think is going to break first?"

"Eh, I don't know, but I'm sure a lot of people are betting their shanix on me," Wildrider answered.

"Yes, being labeled the Ultimate Manic is sure to get a lot of people to think you will be the first to kill," Dead End conceded.

"Yeah, problem with that. _I'm already cracked_," Wildrider whispered the last part to Dead End. "I'm already crazy, which makes me one of the saner person in here."

"I don't understand that logic."

"Think about it. This game is design to get sane, logical people to become insane and kill each other. I'm already crazy, so the inverse should happen. I get saner as the game goes along," Wildrider told him. Dead End couldn't understand the logic in any of that.

"Are you - oh, what's that human term – trolling me," Dead End asked.

"Uh, no. Duh," Wildrider chastised, waving his finger like a disappointed parent. "You think I would tell blatant lies like that?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well, anyway, another thing that should get you to trust me is that I absolutely suck at murdering people quietly. I don't do things with subtly," Wildrider told him. "I would be, without a doubt, one of the worst at murdering people without anyone figure it out."

"Now that is true," Dead End agreed. "So, how do I rank in your little list of potential killers?" Dead End asked.

"Eh, somewhere down at the bottom. I don't think you have enough motivation to kill anyone. Way to fatalistic to actually murder someone to get out of a life and death situation," Wildrider told him.

"Hmm, that's sounds reasonable, although whether that holds up or not, will wait and see," Dead End trailed off ominously.

"Oh, come on, Deady. You're not seriously planning to kill anyone… right?" he asked.

"Hmm, no, but I have a very good idea of who's going to commit the first murder if there is one," Dead End said.

"Wait, you do? Who?"

"You think I'm just going to tell you?" Dead End chastised.

"No, but, can I make a guess?" Wildrider asked. Dead End thought it over for a second before replying.

"One."

"Shockwave?"

"No."

"Dammit!" Wildrider cursed, kicking the cafeteria doors. "I thought for sure that would be correct. He's first on mine."

"I admit, he does make a reasonable choice for first murderer, but I'm positive it won't be him," Dead End replied. Wildrider glared at him.

"How do you know the guy who's going to commit the first murder?" Wildrider asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just heard a few things. You won't believe what people will say, thinking no one's around," Dead End said.

"What do you-"

"You two are up early," someone mentioned off from the side. The two turned to see Ratchet coming down the steps. "Looks like I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep well," Ratchet noticed.

"I slept well," Dead End told him. "Wildrider over here, for some reason, insisted on getting up early and waking me up as well."

"Oh, yeah. You two sleep in the same room, right?" Ratchet asked.

"You would be correct. Now, what were you losing sleep over?" Dead End asked.

"Actually, it involved you. You think we can talk together right now," he said, glaring at Wildrider, "alone."

"Why? So you can kill him?" Wildrider asked.

"No, of course not!" Ratchet yelled, trying to explain to them. "I only what to talk to him. Swindle said something about him and Dead End having a conversation that interests me," he explained.

"And what was it about?" Dead End asked.

"About what's going on outside," Ratchet asked.

"Ah, well then. You can talk to both me and Wildrider about it. We spent some time talking about it," he comforted him.

"Are you sure?" he asked uncertainly.

"Hey, I got a CPU too, bub," Wildrider snarled.

"Alright, alright. Anyway," Ratchet said, trying to start off the conversation, "I've been trying to figure out what's going on outside. Swindle said you two having been talking a bit about it so I thought I came for any answers you would provide," Ratchet told them.

"Is that so?" Dead End mused, putting a finger to his chest. "Well, me and Wildrider have been talking quite a lot about the state of the outside world, mainly because this a is very familiar felling to us," Dead End confided.

"It is. You see, sometime during the war, after Cybertron died for the first time, the Stunticons were sent to look for any supplies from the ruins of cities," Dead End told him.

"Yeah, it was all spooky and stuff, you know?" Wildrider butted in.

"Anyway," Dead End continued, "everyday, it was the five of us, staying in large buildings with no one around us. Not a single sound from the outside world except us, and we didn't get along very well. Luckily, this didn't required very much contact with each other, so we just headed off by ourselves. I took a room farther away from everyone else and just wrote some stuff using whatever I could fine. Decepticons didn't really favored writing utensils."

"Or anything, really."

"Every night, I just sit and listened to the nothingness from the outside world. The cold, stark feeling came to all of us. The fact that the world we know was dead, because of our own actions. Waging war until the planet couldn't sustain us anymore. It left Cybertron… hollowed."

"Also, really not good for your olfactory systems," Wildrider chimed in.

"That same feeling that was in us when we were alone on Cybertron is the same feeling I'm getting right now. I can't help but think that the world we knew died again overnight and none of us noticed," Dead End finished. "So, was our explanation acceptable?" Dead End asked.

"That's… that's… that makes no sense. We were knock out for a day. The world doesn't just die overnight."

"Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, but, at the very least, I say that Optimus and his ilk evacuated Iacon for some reason. It's the only reason to explain the silence from outside."

"But, why?" Ratchet asked.

"Maybe we'll figured that out when more of the building become unlocked to us."

"This is an announcement. It is now 7 am. Have a wonderful day," the announcement chimed in.

"Now then," Dead End said, opening the door to the cafeteria, "shall we refuel?"

* * *

Breakfast went by without a hitch. Everyone turned up without any mishaps and the conversation was kept on the lighter side of things, with them talking about the more crazier and wackier side of the war, the most talked about one being when Wildrider set himself on fire for some reason. He claimed it looked like a good idea at the time, to the confusion of everyone else. Once breakfast with over, everyone left, leaving Jazz and Counterpunch to guard the energon.

Afterwards, Dead End and Wildrider headed to the 3rd floor and entered a barren room filled with no one. "Alright Deady, why did you dragged us up here?" Wildrider asked.

"What does anyone go to the art section for?" Dead End asked, getting a pad and starting to type in it.

"Ugh, seriously?" Wildrider asked.

"If you want, you can take one of the small rooms, covered it with white paper and just throw paint everywhere," Dead End suggested. Wildrider's blue optics brighten, literally.

"Oh. That's a great idea! Why didn't think I of that?" Wildrider mused, before grabbing a large roll of paper and several buckets of paint and making off with it. Dead End enjoyed the quiet for all of ten seconds before Hound came in and ruined it.

"Uh, why was Wildrider laughing manically and holding of that stuff?" he asked, a bit afraid.

"He is going to throw colors all around a room," Dead End answered.

"Oh, well, if you don't mine, I'll hang with you and do some drawing," he said, grabbing one of the digital sketchpad.

"Of what, may I asked?" Dead End asked.

"I don't know, maybe a flower from Earth," Hound said as he turned the sketchpad on and took a seat.

"Using a digital tool to draw something that naturally occurs. Isn't that oxymoronic?" Dead End asked.

"Uh, I don't know. Maybe," Hound said as he started drawing. "I don't know any fancy art terms."

"It's mostly used as a figure of speech, but I figure it could count in this case," Dead End mentioned as he continued writing.

"Ah, nice to know," Hound said, and the two stayed quiet for a little while before Hound started talking again. "Hey, is this alright?" he asked again, showing Dead End his drawing of a flower. It was drawn alright, but that was nothing considering the sketchpad automatically straighten lines for you if you want and the auto-fill feature makes it easy to color. The flower had a yellow stem while the pedals had an aqua and azure pattern, which, Dead End admitted, was very appealing. The background was a simple black one with yellow sparks of light. "It's not a real flower, at least I don't think so. Never seen one like it before, but it looks appealing to me."

"While the actually skill involved is minimal, I do admit you have a redeeming sense of style," Dead End told him. "It would be impressive if you could replicate that on a regular sketchpad."

"Yeah, well, that isn't happening," Hound admitted. "How's your poem going?" he asked.

"Hmm, that is hard to tell. The situation we're in is hindering my writing ability, it seems. I'm having trouble figuring out what words to evoke the right emotions," Dead End confided.

"Don't you just write words and make people cry?" Hound asked.

"Didn't you just listen to the last sentence? I need to find the right words to inflict the right emotions. The words I'm using seem to be too… vague for it to be effective."

"Oh, well, can't vague be effective?"

"If I want to change the context of the poem, yes," Dead End said, thinking it through. "Perhaps I can do that." Before Dead End could think the rest of it through, Wildrider came in with paint of different colors.

"Deady! Look what I made," he yelled, before glancing over at Hound. "I have no idea who you are, but come look at it as well!"

"Uh, what?" Hound stumbled before Wildrider ran over and hauled him over his shoulder out of the room and ran out. Dead End stared dumbly at what just happen before heading out of the room towards where Wildrider took Hound. It wasn't hard tracking him down; he just had to follow the paint stains that he left towards a room. He opened it to quite a sight.

The walls were painted a multitude a colors, looking like one big, big swirling mess that you had to be high to understand. Wildrider was on top of Hound, talking in a calm tone about what each wall meant, indirectly transferring paint onto Hound's body. "This represents the inner feelings of my soul, looking for another explosion to cause," Wildrider said, pointing his finger to the wall on the right that was painted in primarily warm colors.

"Wildrider, are you done manhandling him?" Dead End asked.

"Deady! How's my work of art?" Wildrider asked him, waving his hand around the room in a magnificent gesture.

"It's uh… special," Dead End told him. "So, can you let him go?" Dead End asked. Wildrider glanced between him and Hound for a second before relenting, getting off him.

"Eh, I guess. I gave him a detail looked at my, how do you pronounce it… a _mural_," Wildrider said, getting off Hound. Hound immediately got up and ran out of the room, yelling a quick word of thanks to Dead End before disappearing from view. Dead End glared darkly at Wildrider before speaking.

"Was that really necessary?" Dead End asked.

"Uh, yeah. I thought so," Wildrider told him. Dead End gave a groan before speaking again.

"It's almost time for lunch. Clean up a bit and we'll repaint you after lunch," he told him.

"You got it."

* * *

After 30 minutes of attempting to make Wildrider look at least presentable and giving a quick once-over with Wildrider body that still left several discoloration marks visible and accidentally getting some on Dead End, they appeared in the lunch room last. Everyone was already sitting at the table, drinking and talking. They had glanced at the two late arrivals before continuing with their conversation unperturbed. The two Stunticons took a seat at the table and inserted themselves in the conversations whenever asked.

Once lunch was over an hour later, everyone went off to do their own thing, with Dead End dragging Wildrider roughly by the arm to the art room to reapply paint onto their armor and Hound and Vortex to look over the energon. An hour-and-a-half later, they looked sparkling new, Dead End remarking that they actually looked "presentable" again. With that done, the duo headed up to the floor above them and went into the lounge.

Inside, they could see Mirage and Jazz watching over the low-grade while Vortex, Brawl, and Hoist just lounging around. The two took a seat next to the two Combaticons in the room, who were in the middle of a conversation.

"I'm telling you, Megatron would destroy him!" Brawl yelled, slamming his fist on the table.

"And I'm telling you, Overlord would rip him apart!" Vortex replied back.

"Do I even want to know?" Dead End asked as he and Wildrider took a seat.

"We're debating over whether Overlord or Megatron would win in a one-on-one fight. No weapons or anything like that; just grisly hand-to-hand combat," Brawl answered for them.

"And I'm telling you, Overlord would rock the scrap out of Megatron. Without that laser cannon that's practically imbedded to his arm, he's would fall quickly to Overlord indestructibleness," Vortex told him.

"But Megatron has far superior wits than Overload and would think of a way to take him down," Brawl shot back.

"What's your opinion?" Vortex asked. Dead End thought it over.

"I guess it would have to do with the environment. If there was stuff that Megatron could take advantage of, then he would when. If not, than Overlord would win," Dead End answered. "So, it would be a tie."

"Ugh, what an anticlimax that would be," Wildrider bemoaned.

"This is an announcement," they heard the voice pronounce over the intercom which bewildered some of the people involved, considering it was nowhere near nighttime, "we have a special event scheduled for the A/V room. Attendance is mandatory. If you do not come, you will be punished," Monobear said, before getting off.

"What do you think that was about?" Hoist asked the room.

"I've no idea," Dead End said, "but we better make out way there," he said, and the seven of them left the lounge and head to the A/V room. Inside they found a few people already there. Minutes later, everybody filed in, leaving the room kind of cramp.

"Okay, so why did the stupid bear asked us to come up here?" Counterpunch asked the room.

"To give you a gift!" the stupid bear reply, coming out of thin air again and holding a stack of discs. "Everyone, take the one with your name on it and watch it," the bear ordered. Everyone glanced at each other before they took one at a time and took a seat by a screen. Dead End was one of the last and put his disc in the computer and placed the headphones nearby over his head to listen.

Inside, he saw something most peculiar: footage of himself leaving the Ibex poet club. It was a place that had been rebuild after the war had ended. "Here you see Dead End leaving his favorite place in all of Cybertron, a poetry club that he had a hand in rebuilding." It made Dead End kind of happy to see something like this, which instantly caused him to worry. Something bad was about to happen and it was proven true when the footage turned to static and cleared up again, the place was a broken down wreck. Walls were cracked and holes were made, and Dead End could see that a part of the landscape was burning now. "Oh no, whatever happen to his place. If Dead End wants to find out, he will have to get out of here and there is only one way to do that," the bear left off ominously and the video ended, leaving Dead End last sight of his broken down place embedded in his databanks.

He turned to see everybody in varyingly looks of shock. Some, like Shockwave, Soundwave, Jazz, Onslaught, Ratchet, and Hoist, looked calm and were in the mist of calming everyone else down. Others, like Scavenger, Hound, Blurr, and Swindle, were freaking out and needed to be calmed down by the others. At the end, when everybody had calmed down to a reasonable amount, had been speaking of what exactly what they saw.

"What was that?" Scavenger had started out, holding his head in worriment.

"I don't know," Jazz murmured. "Could that have been faked?"

"It had to be!" Hound yelled out, obviously affected by the video. "Something like that happening is… impossible."

"How did they even get that footage of us?" Mirage asked. "That… should be _impossible_."

"It looked like they have been keeping a eye on us for far longer than we imagine," Ratchet told them.

The conversation went on like that for a short while longer before Jazz noticed that Monobear was still there, shining his smile in a toothy grin."You!" Jazz yelled at the chromatic bear. "What was the meaning of those videos?" Jazz asked.

"Oh, well, it's been three days and I've grown bored, so I've decide to hand you your first motive!" the bear told them, his smile leaving his face.

"Motive?" Rewind asked.

"Yes, a motive. Something to help move the process along faster. Oh, I bet one of you is planning something right now," the bear chanted excitedly. "Now then, since you've got what you required, I'll be off. Happy killings," the bear taunted before disappearing again. The others were looking at each other, wondering whether or not what they were shown was true. Something they had all loved… destroyed over a couple of day? That was impossible, but the video seemed so real…

"Alright everybody," Jazz began, "it's almost dinnertime. Let's head on down there and just forget about what we saw. They had to be fake." The others looked at each other, but silently agreed and headed downstairs to the cafeteria.

* * *

Half an hour later, they had all calmed down and were discussing what to do. They had all agreed to keep even better watch of the energon and low-grade than before and everyone agreed to be with at least three people in any situation or alone in their rooms. Another half-hour later, dinner was over and they had left. Dead End headed straight up the stairs to the second floor and towards his room, Wildrider right behind him. He opened it and both of them stepped in.

"Man, that ruined my whole prediction on who is going to killed first. Now any of them could be the first to kill," Wildrider complained.

"Hmm, maybe, my number one guess is still a viable killer," Dead End replied.

"Deady, come on. If you know who's going to kill, tell everybody about it. You could potentially stop a murder," Wildrider told him.

"Really, now. Are you extolling the virtues of cooperation?" Dead End asked.

"Uh, maybe, I don't know," Wildrider agreed.

"Wildrider, listened. It's kill or be killed right now. A murder is going to happen. Not telling anybody insures the one I suspects to do it, does it, and I can make sure he doesn't get away from it. If we stop it now, we're going to go in the actual first murder blind," Dead End told him.

"Dead End." He was using full name now. Very serious. "You're not talking sense."

"What I'm saying is I know who is going to die in two days' time and who the killer is. If we prevent it, than we will have significantly less chances of solving the real first murder."

"What is that supposed to mean and how do you know?" Wildrider asked.

"Look I know everything except the _how. _If we can figure it out tomorrow, than we can convince everybody about the person's guilt when the time comes," Dead End pleaded with him.

"But who is going to murder tomorrow?" Wildrider asked

Dead End stared blankly before, thinking it through before laying back down in his bed. "Go to sleep, Wildrider. While I'm sure I know someone's going to murder in two days, I don't know if a murder is going to happen tomorrow. This motive video complicates things. If nothing happens tomorrow, I'll tell you. If a murder does happen, I won't. Good night," Dead End said as he went to sleep. Wildrider looked at him uncertainly before heading out the door, trying to think of what Dead End told him meant.


	9. Chapter 1: Party Time

Breakfast arrived the next morning without death and everyone seemed able to talk, if slightly tensed still over the videos last night. Nobody wanted to talk about the videos for fear of getting everyone hopes down. For now, everybody tried to kept it on casual topics, but they were running out of things to talk about. Talking serious about the war would just open old wounds and it didn't have many humorous moments either. Boredom was settling in.

Once breakfast was over, small groups set off to separate areas, Vortex and Drift staying behind to cover the energon in there. Hoist and Soundwave went off to the groundbridge in the hopes of using it to get out of the academy, Soundwave doing most of the work on the groundbridge due to his extreme familiarity with the device, leaving Hoist to work on the control panel controlling it. "Currently reattaching the wires from the spacebridge to the control panel," Hoist told Soundwave as he attached the wires, a few hours into the repairs. "How's the groundbridge coming along?"

"Going well," Soundwave answered in Shockwave's voice as he stood back from the bridge and looked at it. "if I'm correct, everything is in place and only the control panel is needed to work it."

"Alright. Just let me place this back," Hoist replied as he put the panel back in place. "Okay. Do it." Soundwave did immediately, inputting a location inside the building and pressed a button, making the bridge come alive and bathe the room in a green light.

"It turns on, now to see if it works," Soundwave said, entering the bridge and leaving Hoist by himself. 10 seconds later, the bridge turned off automatically. Hoist went and turned the thing back on, keeping it on. Hoist waited for roughly a minute before Soundwave came back in and Hoist took his hand off the button, leaving the spacebridge to turn off by himself.

"Looks like it works just fine," Hoist noticed.

"Yes and it's almost time for lunch. We should leave," Soundwave told him.

"Go on ahead. There are a couple of things here that will take me a minute to do. Don't let me keep you up," Hoist told him, heading to the back of the panel again and removed it.

"As you wished," Soundwave agreed, walking out of the room. Hoist took poff the panel and quickly inserted a RAM, ROM, and memory drive on it and closed the panel shut and headed out of the room.

* * *

25 minutes into lunch and the majority of the people had already left, leaving the few dredges of people behind: Shockwave, Soundwave, Hoist, Perceptor, and Ratchet. Everyone else was heading for separate areas to prepare for later. A small party was going to be initiated after dinner today. The idea was co-opted by Swindle and Smokescreen, who reason that the group needed a moral boost. The group consented, on the grounds that no low-grade or anything like that would be used, as overloaded robots was the perfect timing to let a murder go unnoticed. The two relented and got the place set up for it, with the help from some others, leaving the rest to do whatever.

The five left behind agreed that they wouldn't be going to the party and would just spend the day by themselves. They were currently just idling chatting with each other. "So, what's with up with the injector?" Ratchet asked, nodding his head to the device in front of Shockwave.

"Since I have no orifice in which to ingest the energon, I have to inject it with this," Shockwave answered. I always inject in thirty minute intervals for a quarter of the injector," Shockwave answered.

"Oh, yes, you did had that most deplorable punishment, am I correct? Empurta?" Perceptor questioned.

"Indeed, I did. It's something that I resented, but have grown to appreciate for making me what I am now."

"Doesn't explain where the giant arm cannon come from," Hoist mentioned.

"It was simply an attachment that I decided to add after losing it to the gaping maw of Grimlock," Shockwave answered.

"It was a painful procedure, if medical records are correct," Soundwave said, in Thundercracker's voice.

"Who was it that added it?" Ratchet asked.

"Knock Out, correct?" Soundwave asked Shockwave.

"That would be correct," Shockwave agreed.

"Hmph, makes sense. I may fight with him a lot, but he almost as good a medic as me. _Almost_," Ratchet consented.

"Where did the gun come from?" Hoist wondered.

"Do I really need to answer that?" Shockwave asked.

"Swindle," Hoist answered his owned question. "Don't know why I even asked that."

"I have no logical answer for that," Shockwave replied, injecting himself with another quarter of the energon, leaving half left. "If you excuse me, I need to head back to the lab," Shockwave told them, getting up, grabbing the injector, and heading out of the room.

"Wait for me," Perceptor said, heading up to the lab, leaving the three by themselves.

"Well then, looks like lunch is officially over," Hoist muttered. "Hey Soundwave, since we're done with the groundbridge for now, you want to take watch over the energon?" Hoist asked him.

"I will," Soundwave agreed.

"Alright, so, I'll go do, something," Ratchet said, heading out of the room.

* * *

"Alright, so we got the poker table over here," Smokescreen said at one of the corners of the lounge. "Can easily fit nine players and a dealer."

"Got the pool table over here," Swindle told him, adjusting the table. "The guy took a lot of cues from human culture."

"Tell me about it," Smokescreen agreed, looking over at place. "Although, I guess it isn't too bad. Humans have got quite a few entertaining gambling games. I've seen a few of them around Cybertron and played a few of them," Smokescreen mentioned.

"Makes sense. I mean, we've been maintaining good relations with humans. Makes sense a few of them would get imported over here."

"Right," Smokescreen muttered as Swindle inspected the table before granting it a seal of approval. "Hey, Swindle?"

"What."

"Do you think anybody is actually going to murder anybody?" he asked. Swindle thought that through before answering.

"I'd say probably," he answered, causing a grimace to form on Smokescreen's face. "Hey, don't give me that look! I'm just stating my opinion. I could be wrong, you know," Swindle told him.

"Yeah, I know, but you're probably right," Smokescreen said, looking stress. "Best we can do is wait until Optimus rescues us and hope no one dies."

"Do you honestly still think Optimus is still capable of saving us?" Swindle asked.

"Hey, doesn't hurt to hope," he told him.

"Yeah, you try saying that when the first murder happens," Swindle mocked, before heading to the bar and getting himself some low-grade.

"Hey, no low-grade. Remember?"

"They said none during the party. Didn't say anything about _before_," Swindle reminded him before talking a gulp.

"Aren't you afraid someone is going to murder you if you get overloaded?" Smokescreen asked.

"Maybe, but I got a 1 in 29 chance of being murder, so I won't worry too much," Swindle told him.

"You realize you will increase your chances of dying by a lot if you drink anything," Smokescreen reminded him. "Also, you are a light-weight." Swindle glanced at him a second with a cube in his hand before shrugging him off and downing some. "You just sealed your fate," Smokescreen snarked which was responded by Swindle's middle finger.

* * *

"Exactly why are you going to the party?" Wildrider asked Dead End as he was buffing himself in preparation for the party.

"To see if I can prevent any murder. Why else would I go?" Dead End told him. "Lots of drinks going around, plenty of people trying to relax and not think of the killer slipping them some acid in their drink. The killer could move their plan ahead of time in order to take advantage of the opportunity," Dead End told him simply. "I'm sure I'm not the only one with that thought in mind. I'm sure Nightbeat will be watching the whole thing from the corner of a room by himself. While he's doing that, we'll try and socialize with the rest."

"Are you capable of socializing with people without freaking them out with all your death talk?" Wildrider asked.

"Probably not, but it's worth a shot."

"Can you at least tell me who killer is supposed to be?" Wildrider asked.

"I guess I can," Dead End conceded. "The killer is..."

* * *

Nightbeat walked in the third floor lounge to see Swindle blubbering sadly to himself on the bar while Smokescreen was busy making the final touches. "What's up with Swindle?" Nightbeat asked as he entered.

"Uh, yeah, he decided to exploit a loophole in your rule and drink some low-grade before the party started," Smokescreen answered.

"Dammit, really?" he asked and Smokescreen gave a shake of confirmation. "How many?" Smokescreen raised a single finger. "_One_? Seriously?"

"Yeah, he's quite a lightweight," Smokescreen replied, turning to Swindle. "Isn't that right, Swindle?"

"Yeah, you're right, which makes sense. I'm nothing but a criminal who takes advantage of people's weaknesses. I'm so disgusting, so I deserve this," Swindle gloomily replied.

"Yeah, another thing. He's not a happy drunk, but a sad one."

"A-another thing. Everybody is just going out and selling themselves out these days. They just go out there and sell their bodies like they are a fresh batch of high-grade to a bunch of wreckers. It's so depressing."

"Wow. I thought it was impossible to out-depress Dead End," Nightbeat replied, his optics widening at the revelation. "I owe him an apology."

"Yeah, well, it looks like we're ready for the party and I might let Swindle turned in early for the day," he said, glancing at Swindle, who was tilting his cube over to see if anything was left.

"Nothing left, just like this life," Swindle murmured, looking for another cube.

"If that is a look into Swindle inner psyche, I don't want to see anything else," Nightbeat said. "I'll get him to my room."

"Why you're room?" Smokescreen asked.

"Because, you're going to tell everybody that he's in his room for tonight at dinner. That way, any killers wishing to take advantage of an overloaded Swindle doesn't know where he is."

* * *

"I'm worried," Chromedome said as he and Rewind hung around his room.

"Why?" Rewind asked.

"I got a bad feeling that a bad thing will be happening in the party," Chromedome told him.

"That's just your nerves talking," Rewind told him. "I'm sure we'll just go there, have a good time, and no one will be murder at the party."

"Yeah, maybe. Still, I think we should play it safe and stay in our rooms," Chromedome suggested.

"Chromey, it's a large amount of people in one area. Everyone will be watching each other and no one will dare make a murder," Rewind told him.

"Yeah, I guess you make a point," Chromedome agreed.

"Plus, I will be as paranoid as the pits at the party and will make sure I'm easily seen at all times and every cube of energon I drink will be easily seen," Rewind comforted.

Chromedome thought it over before saying, "I guess that can work out."

"Great, I know no one will be murder at the party."

* * *

Nightbeat quickly slide his electroID down his door, unlocking it. He quickly opened the door, and let him and Swindle in. "You know what I did before I... became an arms dealer," Swindle slurred as Nightbeat supported him in.

"What?" Nightbeat asked. Swindle had been saying depressing stuff during the whole way down, making Nightbeat slightly question his fate in life.

"I used to be an arsonist," he told him as the door closed behind them.

"What?!" Nightbeat asked loudly.

"Yeah, see, the Iacon Fire Department was not having enough calls to fit their budget, so they needed a little help. So they hired me to set fires in abandoned buildings to increased calls. More fires means the budget stays good and I got paid pretty nicely for it. I know a lot about fires now," Swindle told him. He slightly giggled to himself, which was odd, considering his current behavior. "One time, I made a mistake. I thought a building was empty, when really, some of the homeless was staying in a secret room. Thirteen people die that day, and I didn't even gave it a second thought." At that, he gave a sharp bitter laugh. "I'm a horrible person. You must hate me," Swindle chanted.

"You need to rest, now go to recharge," he told him.

"Alright, no need to be pushy," Swindle told him as he took a rested on Nightbeat's berth. Nightbeat watched him as he recharged and then silently made out of the room, letting the sleeping drunk sleep off his alcohol. He closed his door silently, before noticing two other people step out of their rooms.

"I can't believe you lied to me," Wildrider complained.

"Wouldn't be the first time. Now come on, it's time we head to dinner."

* * *

Dinner came and everybody attended. Some people, mainly the Combaticons, wondered where Swindle was, but Smokescreen assured them that Swindle was sleeping off a cube of high-grade he drank. "Lightwight," Vortex murmured to himself. The other person missing was Shockwave, which worried some people, but Soundwave explained that Shockwave wished to remained in his room to conduct a couple of experiments with some chemicals he brought into his room. That eased their thoughts and they kept on socializing until eight, where they all ended dinner and Smokescreen led everybody who wanted to party to the third floor lounge.

The only ones left behind were Nautilator and Bludgeon. The former because he was sure no one wanted him and the latter because he didn't do parties, _period_. The two were practically sitting next to each other, due to their positions at the table usually has Drift in-between them. Nautilator tried not to be freaked about by the killing machine sitting next to him. If there was someone he was sure would kill first, it would be him, which is why he was wondering to himself why the frag was he sitting next to him.

"I gotta go," Nautilator said, standing up.

"Stay," Bludgeon ordered. Nautilator sat his aft back down.

"Uh, why?" Nautilator asked, fearing for his life.

"I need someone to talk too," he answered simply, which confused the Seacon. "Go ahead, regale me with tales from your past."

"Uh, why?" he repeated.

"We were all chosen for our talents. I simply wished to know how far your luck extends," he answered. Nautilator had to admit, Bludgeon was acting not quite how he expected him to. Then again, all he heard were legends of his brutality from other people. He never actually met the guy in person.

"Ugh, it's nothing special-"

BANG

"Don't you dare say that!" Bludgeon yelled at him "You were named the Ultimate Luck for a reason, which fits you, as the only way someone as pathetic as you could've survive on the battlefield so long is if you were extremely lucky. So, tell me," Bludgeon said, edging his face closer to Nautilator, "how an insignificant worm like you outlast for so many eons of war without dying. I'm listening with rapt attention."

* * *

Hoist stood outside his door, trying to consider whether he should go to the party or not. On the one hand, he had always been the quiet type and didn't enjoy events with large groups. He barely heard the footsteps behind him, but noticed them all the same to turn around and noticed Soundwave knocking on Shockwave's door. Shockwave answered almost immediately and took the injector full of energon from Shockwave. "You have my gratitude," Shockwave told him.

"Noted," Soundwave answered, walking off, leaving Shockwave to close the door behind him. Hoist watched the two go before deciding on what to do. He didn't want to do nothing all day, but he didn't want to go party. He quickly made an idea. He entered his room for a few moments and exited, carrying a chair in his grip. He laid his chair down at the stairs and took and seat. He decided to play hall monitor to make sure nothing goes wrong in the lower floors and lead any early quitters to their room.

* * *

"Alright, are we all ready?" Smokescreen asked everybody. "Good, I officially declare it _party time_!" he told the crowd and was met with a chorus of approvals. Smokescreen could barely hold his smirk back.

They might just make it through this party time.


	10. Chapter 1: The Fire

"Someone's preparing for the worst," Perceptor noticed as he saw Ratchet cleaning surgical tools for use.

"Well, I figure that if there's a stabbing in the party, I can treat it before the victim dies, thus saving a life," Ratchet explained. "I really hope it doesn't come to that, but I'm preparing for anything."

"Alright, well, if you need me, I'll be in the fourth floor while Soundwave will be preoccupied with the fifth floor," Perceptor told him.

"Aren't you afraid someone will come up there and murder you?" Ratchet asked.

"Ratchet, the infirmary has a clear line of sight between it and the steps, so if they want to do that, they'll have to pass you and I think they would have to be really stupid to do that," Perceptor told him as he headed out the room.

"Alright, just watch your back. We need to make sure no one gets murder tonight," Ratchet told him.

"You got it," Perceptor said over his shoulders as he went up the stairs to the fourth floor.

* * *

"You guys are lucky I'm not playing," Smokescreen told the nine players at the table as he was shuffling the deck. "Any questions on the rules that people need clarification on?" he asked and was met with a cold silent.

"Just pass them out," Blurr murmured from the farthest chair on the right.

"Hey, Blurr, calm down, alright," Drift said from the center chair. "We're here to have fun, so quit fussing."

"En, he's right, Drift. Let's get started," he said, passing a card out to the person on his left, Rewind, than passing one to Chromedome, Mixmaster, Scavenger, Drift, Bumblebee, Blast Off, Vortex and Blurr, than repeating again to give everyone their second cards. Rewind and Chromedome is the small and big blind, respectively, which means Mixmaster decides first what to do," he said, nodding his head towards him. "You all have got a hundred thousand shanix in chips each, so please don't everyone waste it in 5 hands. I'll be sincerely disappointed," he told them.

* * *

"You ready to break, Brawl?" Onslaught asked his fellow Combaticon.

"Ready, boss," Brawl clamored, getting ready to shoot the first shot of the night. There was an 8-ball tournament going on at the pool table between eight people. Brawl and Onslaught went the first round, follow by Knock Out and Skywarp, Dead End and Jazz, and Hound and Wildrider.

"Alright, than crush it," he ordered, which Brawl did immediately, hitting the cue ball with full force, sending it into the center of the right side causing the balls to spread everywhere, resulting in a stripe to go in.

"Hah, one down!" Brawl cheered.

"Six more to go," Onslaught reminded him. "You're stripes."

* * *

"Then there was that other time where, due to my poor sense of direction, I accidently walked into a Wrecker squad," Nautilator recounted, nervously.

"Hmm, they aren't much of a challenged. They go in guns blazing without thinking of the trap that may await them," Bludgeon informed him.

"Um, you forget, I'm not you. I can't kill a squadron of wreckers by myself!" Nautilator told him.

"Then how did you survive them? Did they choose to capture you instead of capturing you?"

"I wished, but nope. They shot first and I ran away, with them chasing me. I ran for Primus how long when one of their shots accidently caused a building to come down and block their path to me," Nautilator explained.

"Hmm, how lucky," Bludgeon muttered before widening his optics. "Just like those other stories you told."

"Yeah, well, I'm very unluckily lucky."

"Hmm?" Bludgeon wondered. "That was contradictory. Provide context," Bludgeon told him.

"Um, well, it means I stumble onto a lot of bad situations, but I am lucky enough to avoid being destroyed by it, somehow," he explained. "Doesn't help my social skills," he complained offhandedly.

"Yes, but your tales do prove that you have an unnatural lucky streak," Bludgeon muttered. "It is worth investigating if you've been blessed by an unnatural force. I have run into many beings that have an unnatural skill to them. You could be one, and it… interests me," Bludgeon said, intrigued by what he just said. "Strange I would be drawn to an individual like you."

"Coming from you, I'll put that in my top 10 compliments list," Nautilator said.

"You have one?"

"Yes, you just knock 'You are slightly more useful than scrap metal' off the list."

* * *

Nightbeat watched over everybody in the lounge, paying attention to every move everyone made. The energon was right next to him, so if anyone was going to poison it, they would have to get through him somehow, which was borderline impossible. Besides the people playing games, Beachcomber was cheering Onslaught on in his game of pool, Mirage was helping to over watch the poker game, and Counterpunch was…

Say, where was that guy?

"Where's Counterpunch?" he muttered to himself.

"Behind you," he said, causing Night beat to be momentarily shocked, before straightening himself and looked behind him at the solitary Decepticon.

"You don't talk much?" Nightbeat observed.

"Hmm, I see no point to. I do what I am told to do by Megatron and that's it. With his death, there really isn't much for me to do," Counterpunch told him."I'm lost without a purpose."

"Is that why you came here?" Nightbeat asked.

"No, I came here for answers."

"Answers?" Nightbeat asked confused, as Vortex celebrated winning the first hand of the night.

"There was something in my note that… frightens me. I wish to figure out exactly why it's so," Counterpunch told him. "As far as murder goes, you won't see me do anything until I get a straight answer from the headmaster himself."

"That is slightly comforting," Nightbeat muttered to himself.

"Good. I wished to show that I'm no one to watch over, so you can stop giving those suspicious glares at me during meals whenever I fail to contribute to the conversation."

"Ah, you noticed," Nightbeat stated.

"It's not that hard. Silent person who isolates himself from everyone? Bound to be a probable murderer in your book," Counterpunch accused.

"Well, to be fair, I'm suspicious of everyone," Nightbeat told him.

"Yes, of course. So, do you need help to make sure a murder doesn't occur?" he asked.

Nightbeat glared at the Decepticon, wondering what was his motive for doing this before shrugging it off and saying: "Just help me watch everybody. No one must murder at this party tonight."

"Understood," he agreed, standing next him and glaring at the partygoers.

* * *

"Onslaught, why do you have to show me off like this?" Brawl complained as Onslaught lined up the cue ball to knock the 8-ball in one of the corner pockets.

"Because, I need to show you why I'm the commanding officer and that corner pocket," he said, before hitting the cue ball and knocking the 8-ball right where he designated and leaving three stripes still on the table. "And that's game."

"Onslaught wins and knocks Brawl out of the tournament," Beachcomber announced. "Up next, Knock Out and Skywarp!"

"Oh, you're so going down, pretty mech," Skywarp taunted.

"I have a feeling you're going to be swallowing those words," Knock Out threaten as Beachcomber quickly prepared the balls for the second game.

"Let's see what you got, prima donna."

* * *

"I must admit that is quite a feat escaping the crashing spaceship without dying. Grabbing onto an escape pod as you were forced out in space and letting go to hit a powerful geyser to cushion your fall is quite lucky," Bludgeon complimented. "You are quite the escape artist."

"I know, right? I keep escaping from unsurvivable situations alive, if majorly injured, and no one compliments me," Nautilator complained.

"I don't blame them. As a warrior, you are undoubtedly weak-"

"Hey!"

"-but as a survivor, you excel over most beings I know of. Accident prone that you are, you know how to get through them."

"Yeah…," Nautilator agreed, going quiet. "Tell me, how did you get to be such a amazing warrior?" he asked.

"Simple: lots of training. You don't become a master of metallikato overnight," Bludgeon told the weakling. "It was a harsh and strict training regiment, meant to test the mind and soul. I, unlike most who study it, was a created natural for it and excel at everything that was needed of me to excel in."

"Wow, you're a badass," Nautilator said in awed.

"Naturally."

* * *

"How is that possible!" Skywarp screamed as Knock Out sinked the 8-ball into one of the side pockets that he called.

"Ah, flyers. Always so cocky until they get grounded to reality," Knock Out bragged, unable to resist the smug grin from coming onto his face. Skywarp glared at grounder before yelling a quick cursed and teleporting out of the room. "Oh, he's that much of a sore loser? I should've expected it," he bragged at the sight of the retreating seeker. "Who's next?" Knock Out asked.

"Dead End and Jazz," Beachcomber said.

"Oh, this shall be interesting," he said, before handing his cue to Jazz, who readily accepted it.

"Yo, Old Doom 'n Gloom. You want to break?" Jazz asked.

"Are you sure?" Dead End asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he replied as Beachcomber finished racking.

"Alright, first, a quick quote," Dead End mentioned as he set himself up. "I wished to quote a human."

"What is it?"

"Oppenheimer, who isn't a poet, but is suitable in this situation."

"Alright, what is the line?"

"'I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.'" Before Jazz could get what those words meant, Dead End hit the cue ball and knocked it into the balls and knocked three separate solids into pockets. "Not a bad line for a misquote of a poem." At that moment, Jazz realized it was a metaphor for how screwed he was.

* * *

"All in," Blurr said, as he pushed what remained of his stack into the pot. He had been betting in every hand so far and lost all of them. He would be bleeding soon for chips and had to act soon to save himself. Almost immediately, everyone folded. The only person who dared to go up against Blurr was Scavenger, who looked nervous, but put half of his stack in to match Blurr's.

"Alright, showdown. Reveal your hands," Smokescreen told them. Blurr did immediately, showing a pair of aces, a heart and a spade. Scavenger lazily flop hand his on the table, showing a king-queen combo, both diamonds. "Alright, first the flop," Smokescreen announced as he showed am ace of clubs, a jack of diamonds, and a seven of diamonds. Blurr grinned while Scavenger withered.

"Here's the turn." Smokescreen quickly showed the next a card, which turned up to be a ace of diamonds. Blurr's grinned went widened as he saw the ace, giving him a four-of-a-kind while Scavenger slumped further in his seat with his flush that was useless.

"And the river," Smokescreen announced as the next card came up and stunned everybody at the table.

A ten-of-diamonds came up, giving Scavenger a royal flush and the win.

"H-how is that possible," Blurr asked in disbelief.

"I have no idea," Scavenger admitted.

"There's a 649,740 to 1 chance of that happening. It's almost impossible," Smokescreen told them, equally as shocked as everyone else. "That's a bad bust for you, Blurr," Smokescreen told him as he shoved the pot to Scavenger, who wasn't quite registering what happen.

"Scrap," Blurr cursed, as he got up and went to where the energon was.

"Well, now, shall we continue on?" Smokescreen asked the table.

* * *

"Corner pocket," Dead End told the crowd and immediately after, knocked it in, ending the game with Jazz unable to make a turn.

"Damn," Jazz muttered. "No one told me you were a pool shark."

"Every Stunticon, except our boss, is one, which reminds be. Hound, you better count your blessings. Wildrider is going to destroy you," Dead End told him as he gave his cue to Wildrider. "Wildrider, I'll be going out for a couple of minutes. I'll be right back. Until then, sic 'em," Dead End told him as he headed out of the room.

"Roger," Wildrider yelled out as he glared at Hound. "You ready for your doom?" he asked with a psychotic smirked. Hound gazed at the Stunticon getting ready to wreck him before making a silent prayer to Primus to make his lost a swift one.

* * *

Hoist sat in his chair, reading a magazine that was in one of the shelves in his room. It was pretty boring, but was better than doing nothing. He had saw no one entered the hallway yet and it was currently 8:45. It was obvious that nothing was going to happen down there, but he was there anyway, for some reason.

Suddenly, heard one of the door opened and raised his head to see Skywarp coming out of his room, complaining about something. "I could've swore I saw you going to the party," Hoist said to the prankster, causing him to glare at him.

"Yeah, well, I got angry and teleported to my room the let go some of my anger. I feel a lot better now," he told him as he walked towards him. "What are you? Hall monitor?" he asked.

"Something like that," Hoist admitted. "So, heading back to the party?" he asked.

"Naw, I'm thinking of heading to the lunchroom and think to myself or head to the fourth floor lounge," Skywarp told him.

"Really?" he heard a voiced said from above and looked to see Dead End coming down the steps. "How predictable."

"Hey, screw you!" Skywarp told him.

"I sense a disturbance up here," they heard a voice below them and looked to see Bludgeon and Nautilator coming up together.

"What are you two hanging out together for?" Skywarp asked and turned to Dead End. "And what are you here for?" he asked him.

"I came to check on Shockwave, which I shall do now," Dead End told him as he walked past him towards his room.

"And you?" Skywarp asked the other two.

"We were engaging in a conversation downstairs," Bludgeon told him.

"Conversation? About what?" Skywarp asked.

"AH!" they heard Dead End screamed down the hallway and turned to see him holding his hand. "Shockwave's door is unnaturally hot. Why is that?" he asked himself. It didn't take long before Hoist figured it out.

"Scrap. Bludgeon, help me bust down the door," Hoist yelled as he got up and broke a leg off his chair. He quickly head over there with Bludgeon in two. "Right, there should be weak spots right here," he said, pointing to the edge of the door on the left side and quickly rested the chair leg at the edge. "Bludgeon, grabbed this and help me open this," he ordered and he followed it quickly, grabbing hold of the chair and quickly pushing with Hoist, opening the door almost instantly-

-and into a raging fire.

"Scrap! Skywarp, extinguishers now!" he yelled at him and Skywarp comply instantly, teleporting back and forth with several extinguishers in hand. Everyone grabbed one and quickly sprayed the substance into the room. Within minutes the fire had been quelled and a disaster had been prevented.

That didn't stop the five of them from stumbling upon the burnt corpse of Shockwave. The only thing they could do was stared in silence at the body, still sizzling a bit from the flames

DING! DONG!

"A body has been found. A quick period of investigation will occur before a class trial!"


	11. Chapter 1: Investigation of the Fire

The silence in the hallway was deafening as the weight of Monokuma's words hit them. Someone had murder Shockwave.

"What should we do?" Bludgeon asked the group.

"Of course you would be the first speak up," Skywarp muttered.

"Is that supposed to mean something, foolish one?" Bludgeon asked him threateningly.

"Enough, both of you," Dead End ordered the two.

"He's right. Skywarp, go get the others," Hoist ordered him. Skywarp glared at Bludgeon before warping off.

"Alright, so what else should we do?" Nautilator asked them.

"We should probably contain the crime scene," Dead End suggested.

"I will do that," Bludgeon volunteered.

"We can't leave you by himself," Hoist said.

"I'll help him," Nautilator volunteered as well. "I'll probably just get in the way. Besides, me and him have perfect alibis."

"I and he," Dead End corrected, "and what do you mean by that?"

"Well, me and him were in the lunchroom the whole time during the party," Nautilator explained. Dead End glared at him. "Sorry, I meant I and he."

"Now you used it wrong in the wrong place," Dead End muttered. "Besides, just because you were together during the party, doesn't mean neither of you didn't do it," he told them.

"That's impossible. I saw Shockwave alive just before the party started. He had to be killed during it," Hoist told him.

"See? Told you," Nautilator said as he and Bludgeon entered the Shockwave's room together to stand watch over it. Dead End glared at the two before consenting with their opinion. It probably wasn't either of them.

"What happened?" he heard Nightbeat yelled as he turned to see Nightbeat and everyone else descending down the stairs and towards them before stopping before him.

"Someone started a fire in Shockwave's room and killed him," Dead End explained.

"Someone took out Shockwave? How?" he heard someone yelled in the crowd. Similar voices of wonderment came through at that.

"Oh, I'm glad you're all here!" Monobear shouted out in excitement from out of nowhere. "Well, most of you."

"Yeah, who's missing," Brawl thunderous voice asked the crowd. At his question, one of the doors opening, showing Swindle, clenching his head and muttering to himself.

"Ugh, how did I get in there?" Swindle muttered to himself as he saw everyone staring at him. "What are you guys staring at me for? You're staring at me like I'm murderer," he joked.

"For all we know, you could be," Blurr said.

"What…?" Swindle muttered, stepping to see the state of Shockwave's room. "Holy Primus," he said, speechless. "Who did that?"

"I doubt they are just going to go ahead and say it," Nightbeat muttered.

"I sure hope so. That ruins the fun when they do," Monokuma muttered angrily before using his happy tone again. "Anyway, the reason why I'd come is because most of you are amateurs in this whole murder thing, exclude a certain Ultimate Detective who I'd really hoped died first," Monobear said, glaring at Nightbeat, "I've decided to give you all something helpful to use for every trial. Your ElectroID should have a couple of new things added to it." The group quickly opened it to see something labeled 'Evidence Bullets' and the rules had an update symbol on it. The group clicked on the rules button to see what new rules were updated.

8. In the event of a murder in the teacher group, a school trial shall commence. Participation in the school trial will be mandatory.

9. During the school trial, the teachers will attempt to identify the culprit. If the culprit is successfully identified, they alone shall be punished for their crime.

10. Failure to identify the culprit will be considered a violation of the school rules. In this event, all teachers except the culprit shall be punished.

11. More rules will be added when necessary

"Wait, what do you mean by punished?" Rewind asked in a nervous tone.

"Isn't it obvious? Punishment means execution," the bear told them.

"What!" everyone asked surprised.

"Oh, you look surprised. Don't know why. I thought I imply that when Skywarp over there tried to harm me," Monobear rambled to himself. "Anywaaaay, please have a look at the other thing, please." They quickly opened up to see a bulletin list labeled 'Ammo' and saw something that said "Monobear File #1."

"What is this?" Onslaught asked.

"This is something to help you keep track of evidence, of course. Or ammo, as I call it, which I'm sure is fine with all of you," Monobear told them. "If you want to add an entry, just clicked on the 'add ammo' button and you're done. I even help start you off. Clicked on Monobear File #1," he ordered them. They all agreed and looked at a small description.

**Ammo Gained: Monobear File #1**

**Victim's body was found in his dorm room**

**The time of death was between 8 and 8:45 P.M.**

**Cause of death is exsanguination.**

**Victim body had sustained major burns through most of their body.**

"Hmm, cause of death is a bit vague," Nightbeat noticed.

"Isn't it obvious?" Skywarp asked him. "Dude got burned in a fire."

"But the file distinctly said exsanguination."

"Isn't that getting burned?" Skywarp asked, rubbing his head.

"No, it means he lost enough energon to cause death," Nightbeat inform him. "He bled to death."

"Oh, so wait! Why is there a fire?"

"Oh, you guys are hypothesizing already! This should be interesting. Have fun with your investigation?" Monokuma cooed before disappearing.

"So, I guess one of us really killed him," Ratchet said, sounding withdrawn.

"Yes, so let's start out investigation," Nightbeat told everybody. "I'll lead the investigation." Nightbeat studied every one of them.

"Hey, what if you're the murder?" Vortex asked. He had a point."

"I'll be his assistant detective," Ratchet said. "He won't do anything as long as I'm watching."

"I think we should have a couple of Decepticons as head detective as well to prevent biased," Onslaught recommended.

"I'll be an assistant," Knock Out offered. "Ratchet can't be the only one to look at the body, just in case he's the killer."

"I'll help too," Scavenger agreed.

"I'll provide assistance," Chromedome agreed.

"I'll look into it as well," Dead End agreed.

"I'll volunteer to be a detective for the Decepticons," Skywarp offered, causing some looks of shock from people, but that subside.

"Alright, I guess that is good," Nightbeat said as he glared at everyone. One of them was murder and they had to figure out who it was, if they want to survive.

_Investigation Start_

**Head Detective: Nightbeat**

**Assistant Detectives: Ratchet, Knock Out, Scavenger, Chromedome, Skywarp, and Dead End**

"Well, I guess I'll investigate the crime scene," Nightbeat told him. "If anyone besides my assistant would like to help, feel free. Just know everybody is watching your actions," he told the room.

"Bludgeon and _I_," Nautilator stressed, looking at Dead End, "have already agreed to looking over the body. We got both got perfect alibis for the crime," Nautilator told Nightbeat.

"You do?" Nightbeat asked.

"Of course," Bludgeon answered from behind Nautilator. "We were in the place of digesting out meals during the party and converse to each other. Neither of us left each other's sight. We saw no one else. We kept the door open to see if anybody else came down."

"Hmm, that sounds important. Better add it to evidence," Nightbeat muttered as he added it.

**Ammo Gained: Bludgeon and Nautilator's testimony.**

**Both of them were in the lunchroom when the crime occur and saw no one come down. One of the first to find the body.**

"Anybody would like to add their testimonies?" Nightbeat asked.

"I will," Hoist said. "I was watching the 2nd floor playing hall monitor, as Skywarp called me, and didn't see anybody."

"Absolutely no one until Skywarp came out of his room, Dead End came down, and Bludgeon and Nautilator came up and found the body with me," Hoist replied.

"Skywarp left his room? So that's where he went when he warped off," Nightbeat muttered. "Thank you for this information."

"No problem."

**Ammo Gained: Hoist's Testimony**

**Was watching the second floor. No one came down to the second floor until Skywarp, Bludgeon, Nautilator, and Dead End discovered the body with him.**

"Skywarp and Dead End. Can you guys give me your testimonies real quick," he asked of them.

"No problem," Skywarp answered quickly. "Anyway, I was at the party until about, say… 8:30 I think. After that, I'd warped off to my room and stayed there until 8:45, when I discover the bodies with everyone else."

"Not bad," Nightbeat told him as he added the entry.

**Ammo Gained: Skywarp's Testimony**

**At the party until about 8:30 P.M.. Spent the rest of his time in his room until he helped found the body**

"Dead End?" Nightbeat asked.

"We'll talk later. In private," Dead End told him, shrugging him off. "We should investigate the body first." Nightbeat couldn't tell very well, but Dead End looked… vexed with something, which is unlike him. He spends most of his time wallowing in his own misery. He would definitely have to push him for info later.

"Alright, we should start investigating the place. Anybody who doesn't want to help investigate the room, pair up and go somewhere else to investigate. The killer could've left clues in other areas," he told them, before entering the scene of the crime. The room was soak from the foam from the fire extinguishers. The foam had disappeared by now. Anything that wasn't untouched was burnt by the fire and had died off on its own. He could see a dent in one of the walls and a desk turned over. Inside, he saw Ratchet, Scavenger, and Knock Out investigating the body together with Bludgeon and Nautilator on guard duty, watching over the three medics and anyone else. The body was located facedown near the back of the room where the closet and bed was. From behind, he heard the clank of footsteps as they stepped on the wet ground and turned to see Dead End, Chromedome, and Rewind entering behind him with Skywarp watching behind the door. Nightbeat approached the three medics.

"Found anything," Nightbeat asked, kneeling down to view the corpse with them. Shockwave's body wasn't in the best o shape, as the fire made a lot of burn and scratch marks on him. Some of the wires melted to each other and his optic was broken, shattered beyond repaired with some of the pieces sticking to the floor. Some of his armor looked smaller like it originally was.

"Besides the obvious," Knock Out scoffed.

"Describe obvious," Nightbeat asked.

"I mean the fact that Shockwave got in a fight before he died," Knock Out explained.

"Ah, how did you judged that?"

"The optics are shattered. That doesn't happen in a fire," Ratchet explained for him. "Usually, the edges would just melt around the place holding the optic."

"Yeah, and looking around the room, it's pretty easy to see that something started here," Scavenger said, pointing out the overturn desk with chemicals and the impact in the wall. "I'm sure those didn't come from a fire."

"Alright, so we'll add this to the evidence," Nightbeat said.

**Ammo gained: Signs of a Struggle**

**It appears Shockwave was in a fight before he died.**

"This has to be important," Nightbeat said to himself before turning over to the guests. "So, why are you here?" Nightbeat asked them.

"Well, I came here to lend my services," Chromedome replied, showing off the needles in his fingers.

"Ah, that could be valuable," Nightbeat replied as he stepped aside. Chromedome walked over to where Shockwave was and plunged the needles into the back of his head.

"Uh, what's he doing?" Scavenger asked, confused.

"He's a mnemosurgeon. He can use those needles to tell us what happen in Shockwave's last moments of life," Ratchet told him as Chromedome examined his memories.

"Just fragments," Chromedome told him. "I'm much better with a living individual." The process was quick and a minute later, Chromedome put his needles back into his fingers.

"Odd," Chromedome said to them, "it appears he wasn't in a fight in his last moments. One moment he's up and the next he's not. I could see him struggle with something, but it certainly wasn't a fight. Everything is too sketchy," Chromedome told them.

"He was probably bleeding out. It just took a long time for him to actually die," Knock Out tried to explain.

"I have to agree with Knock Out on this one. The culprit probably landed the death blow and let him bleed off slowly before starting the fire. Shockwave was probably trying not to bleed off," Ratchet agreed.

"Still, we better add what Chromedome saw to the evidence list," Nightbeat said as he enter it in.

**Ammo Gained: Victim's Last Moments**

**Victim was stuggling, but not in a fight. **

"What is that sound?" Rewind asked, as he walk into the bathroom and opened the door. "Hey, it looks like the shower is still going!" he told the room. Nightbeat immediately headed over there and looked inside.

"Um, strange. Why would it be on?" Nightbeat muttered to himself.

"And why is it pointed at the door?" Rewind asked. The shower was taken up by a cubical and the water was able to reach the door. The drain was in the cubical and a small puddle was there.

"Go turn it off," Nightbeat told Rewind as he was busy inputting the next piece of evidence in.

**Ammo Gained: Shower**

**The shower was still on when the body was found. Showerhead was pointed at the door.**

Rewind had turned it off, getting himself a bit wet in the process and looked around. "That's not the only thing wrong. Look!" he pointed out, causing Nightbeat to look at the wall next to the sink and the walls covering the entrance. It also didn't Next to it were bright blue energon splatter stains. "It looks like the fight also took part here."

"Indeed," Nightbeat muttered before adding the evidence in.

"I don't know why, but something about it looks odd," Rewind mentioned offhand.

**Ammo Gained: Energon Splatter**

**Energon splatter was found on bathroom walls and shower cubical. Rewind notes that they look slightly strange.**

"Doesn't look like there's anything suspicious in here," Nightbeat said.

"No, so if you don't mind, I think I'll dry off in here for a little while," Rewind told him.

"Alright," Nightbeat agreed, heading back to the room. He came in to see Skywarp and Dead End off to the side, looking through some drawers and everybody else observing the body. He went over to the body. "Found anything else?"

""I did," Knock Out said. "I didn't noticed it at first due to the body being all burnt up, but it looks like some pink paint got on him."

"Pink paint?" Nightbeat asked, looking over at Skywarp.

"Hey, it wasn't me this time!" he told them before continuing to look through the drawers.

"Anyway," Knock Out said, getting back on tracked, "I noticed some discoloration on the body and looked closely to see that it was pink. It covers mostly the front of his body.

"That could explained what I found," Scavenger said, slightly off to the side. "I found a can of pink paint splatter on the floor," Scavenger told them. "It was near the closet."

"So, Shockwave opened the closet and got splatter with pink paint," Nightbeat said to himself.

"Looks like it," Chromedome mentioned.

"Alright," Nightbeat mentioned before putting both items in.

**Ammo Gained: Pink stains **

**Pink stains were found on victim's body.**

**Ammo Gained: Can of pink paint**

**A can of pink paint was found near the closet spilled over.**

"I doubt we'll find a string to indicate that a trap was placed. Probably burned up in the fire," Chromedome mentioned.

"Most likely," Nightbeat agreed. "Skywarp and Dead End, did you find any evidence?" he asked them.

"Hmm, maybe," Dead End mentioned. "I found a notepad with paper in it with a page ripped out. I didn't noticed any ashes in the garbage cans so it might be somewhere else. Could be in someone's room," Dead End told them. "I think I might know who too."

"Really?" Nightbeat asked, curious. "Let me guess, Skywarp?"

"Correct."

"Hey, right next to you," Skywarp muttered.

"Would you let us investigate your room after this, Skywarp?" Nightbeat asked.

"Sure, whatever. You won't find anything," he agreed, handing him his ElectroID.

"Alright," Nightbeat said, before adding the evidence in.

**Ammo gained: Missing page**

**Notebook in victim's drawer was missing a page. **

"Whoa, this is strange. Look what I found in the kitchen cabinet," Skywarp beckoned. Nightbeat came immediately to see what Skywarp saw.

"Shockwave's injector?" Nightbeat asked.

"Yeah. Looks empty. Found it in a fireproof box. Had to bust the lock off to open it."

"Better put it in," Nightbeat said.

**Ammo gained: Shockwave's Injector**

**Shockwave's injector which he uses to feed himself. Found inside a fireproof box that was locked and was empty. **

By this time, the group was basically done examining the room. Ratchet had moved to the bathroom real quick while the rest was looking around the room for any more clues. "Scavenger!" Ratchet yelled out as he exited the bathroom.

"Yes!" Scavenger immediately answered, coming over quickly.

"Come with me to the infirmary. I wish to conduct an experiment real quickly," he told him as he headed out of the room. "Knock Out, handle the rest from here."

"I'm coming," Scavenger complied, following along like a needy child, accidently bumping into Swindle along the way.

"Hey, watch it!" he yelled out before immediately grasping his head again. "Bad idea to yell," he whispered in pain as he entered the room.

"Swindle, why are you here?" Nightbeat asked.

"Well, since I wasn't around for much of anything for the past couple of hours, I thought I could help," he told them, he said before looking around the intently. It didn't take before he noticed something suspicious. "The fire is weird," he announced.

"Care to explain?" Nightbeat asked.

"Well, my vision is a bit doozy, but I'm pretty sure the fire started at the kitchen," he told him.

"Hmm?" he asked.

"The char marks are in a V-shape pointing towards the kitchen, some of the stuff closer to the kitchen is more blacken, and there's a slight hole right above the door where a fireball would've form," he answered.

"That's… very helpful," Nightbeat replied.

"And very disturbing," Rewind mentioned from the bathroom doorway.

**Ammo gained: Origin of fire**

**Fire was started in the kitchen.**

At that moment, he could see Knock Out directing Bludgeon to lift the body up so he could see the chest. Bludgeon did so immediately and the body was now face up. Immediately, Knock Out noticed something. "There are small holes here."

"It looks like he was tabbed with a pin," Bludgeon mentioned.

"He was in a fire. Some of the metal would melt together and become smaller, so more than likely he was stabbed with a knife or something of the other," Knock Out told him. "Probably from one of the knife block on the kitchen over there, which would make identifying which one impossible."

**Ammo Updated: Monobear file #1**

**Victim's body was found in his dorm room**

**The time of death was between 8 and 8:45 P.M.**

**Cause of death is exsanguination.**

**Victim body had sustain major burns through most of their body. Stab wounds were found on the front of the body. **

Nightbeat updated the information before heading out into the hall to see Hoist waiting for him. "Hey, Nightbeat. I need to update my testimony."

"What for?" Nightbeat asked.

"Well, I just realize that I was probably the last to see Shockwave alive, I figure I needed to add in real quick," he told him.

"You did. It was right after dinner and the party was about start upstairs. I was contemplating in the halls about what I should do when I see Soundwave knock on Shockwave's door and answered it. Soundwave handed him the injector gun and left and Shockwave closed the door. That's when I chose to be the hall monitor down here."

"That could be valuable," Nightbeat said to himself. "I really need to talk to him."

**Ammo Updated: Hoist's Testimony **

**Saw the victim talking to Soundwave before party. Was one of the last to see him. **

**Was watching the second floor. No one came down to the second floor until Skywarp, Bludgeon, Nautilator, and Dead End discovered the body with him.**

"He should be in the A/V room. That's where he spends all of his time aside from the ground bridge. If you need me for anything else, I'll be down there," Hoist said, heading off.

"Sure thing," Nightbeat mentioned before entering Skywarp's room. He quickly head to the trash to a rolled up piece of paper there. Nightbeat opened it up to see a message.

_Come to my room at 8:30_

_Shockwave_

The letter was written neat and elegantly. Looked like Shockwave's handwriting, but he had to check to make sure.

**Ammo Updated: Missing Page**

**Notebook in victim's drawer was missing a page. **

**Found in Skywarp's room asking him to come to the victim's room at 8:30. **

Nightbeat looked around the room but saw nothing else suspicoius and headed out of the room. He decided to head to the thrid floor and check on the partygoers. It probably wouldn't lead to much, but it was worth a look. He entered the bar to see partygoers that warn't investigating the crime scen were just hanging around, not wanting to party. As soon as he stepped in, Beachcomber and Mirage headed towards him.

"Hey, dude," Beachcomber greeted.

"Welcome. Wish it were in better circumstance," Mirage also greeted.

"How are you two doing?" Nightbeat asked.

"Not bad," Beachcomber answered nervously.

"We came to give you our testimonies during the party. I was at the poker table and he was at the pool table," Mirage told him.

"Ah, good. Care to explain."

"Well, I was observing the pool table. None of them left the room, although Blurr did get a really bad bust.

**Ammo Gained: Mirage's Testimony. **

**No one at the poker table left the room.**

"Mine was mostly the same. However, Skywarp did leave after he lsot to Knock Out," Beachcomber told him.

"When?"

"About 8:30**."**

**Ammo Gained: Beachcomber's Testimony**

**Skywarp left the room at about 8:30.**

"Thanks for that," Nightbeat thanked them.

"Sam**e** for you," Mirage mimiced before heading off.

"Yeah, thanks," Beachcomber said. "Please solve this Nightbeat. We're counting on you," Beachcomber told him before heading off miserably. Nightbeat looked at Beachcomber for a little while before heading up to the fourth floor. Perceptor was waiting at the top of the steps.

"Hello, I assume you came for my testimony," Perceptor said.

"Uh, I guess. Why do you assume that?" he asked.

"I wasn't at the party. That immediately makes me a suspect," he answered.

"Uh, good enough."

"Anyway, I was up here for the whloe party and never came down. No one came down and on one came up. I had a clear view of the stairs."

"What did you not have a clear view of?"

"Some labs on the right and the tool room and lounge on the left."

"Is that all?" Nightbeat asked.

"Yes."

**Ammo Gained: Perceptor's Testimony**

**Was on the fourth floor the entire time. No one else came to the floor.**

"Alright, I'll head on up to the fifth floor," Nigthbeat said as he went up.

"You go do that."

Nightbeat went up to the A/V room to see Soundwave watching some videos. Soundwave noticed quickly and turned it off, but not before Nightbeat saw a glanced of Rumble and Buzzsaw. More than likely, the other Minicons were on that video he was watching.

"What do you require?" Soundwave asked in Thundercracker's voice.

"Your testimony. You weren't at the party, which makes you a suspect informed him."

"Well then, I will tell you. I was up here the whole time, watching videos. No one else came up here," he answered.

"Is that-"

"No. Before the party, I was the last to see Shockwave alive. I gave him an injector as Hoist can verify. The videos I was watching included real-time footage of what was going on in the party."

"You were watching us?"

"It is my job. I catch every detail of the event."

**Ammo Gained: Soundwave's Testimony**

**Was on the fifth floor the entire time. No one else came up there. **

"Can you show me what videos you were watching besides us?" Nightbeat asked.

"In that side room," Soundwave pointed out.

"Be right back," Nightbeat said as he went to the room and entered it. Inside, he found plenty of discs with various things on them, and a rather large vent that could hold a small animal. Nightbeat headed out of the room. Soundwave was watching a video and was doing his best to block it from view of Nightbeat's inquisitive optics. Nightbeat decided to ignore him and head down to the first floor.

"Nightbeat, I wanted to talk to you about something I found," Hoist said to him.

"Yes."

"I went through the groundbridge logs with the memory cache and it was used."

"How many?"

"8 times," Hoist told him.

"Very interesting," Nightbeat said.

**Ammo Gained: Groundbridge Log**

**Groundbridge was used 8 times.**

"Thank you for the information. I need to go see Ratchet," Nightbeat told him, getting ready to leave before he noticed something. "That vent."

"What?" Hoist said

"Three of them look worn out while the other looks brand new."

"Huh?" Hoist said, turning his head towards the vent. "That's true, but it probably doesn't mean anything.

"Maybe, but better safe than sorry."

**Ammo Gained: Nail in Vent**

**One of the nails in the groundbridge vent is brand new.**

"Right, how many nails are in the tool room when you last check?" Nightbeat asked.

"364."

"Alright, thanks," Nightbeat said as he headed out of the room. He headed out and head back to the fourth floor and went into the tool room. In there he found that the counter read 363.

**Ammo Gained: Missing Nail**

**One of the nails in the tool room is missing.**

With that done, he went back to the third floor to see what Ratchet wanted to do with Scavenger. Before he reached him, he saw Dead End hanging around by himself in the hallway outside of the infirmary.

"Dead End, can I have your testimony?" Nightbeat asked.

"I was at the party all night until I went out at 9:45 to find the body, but that is not the important part," Dead End told him.

"It isn't?" Nightbeat asked.

"On the first night here, I was up and walking the hallways." That got Nightbeat's attention. "When walking through the hallway, I found myself on the fourth floor and stumble onto something that wasn't good," Dead End told him.

"What?"

"Shockwave stealing some of the acid," Dead End told him.

"Really?!" Nightbeat asked, shocked.

"Yes. He was briefly monologuing to himself, wondering to himself who he should use it on. He decided upon Skywarp as he would be the easiest to fool and would do it on the fifth day to let suspicions on the acid rest."

"That's… pretty damning evidence."

"Yes, it would be, if it wasn't for the fact that he became the victim instead of the murderer. That has got me confuse," Dead End told him.

"What were you planning on doing with the evidence?" Nightbeat asked him.

"Tell everyone at the trial and use any evidence that you would've found to support me, but his death has stopped that plan in its track. I looked for the acid, but couldn't find it in the room."

"Huh. Thanks for the information, Dead End."

"You're welcome," he said before heading off.

**Ammo Gained: Dead End's Testimony**

**Saw Shockwave steal a portion of the acid during the first day. Noted that victim was planning on killing Skywarp on the fifth day.**

**Was at the party the whole time until he helped discover the body.**

Nightbeat entered the infirmary after talking with Dead End to see Scavenger closing a wound in Ratchet's arm.

"What happened," Nightbeat asked.

"I ordered him to siphon some of the energon in my body for comparison."

"Compare what?"

"Bouncing off what Rewind said, I got Scavenger to take a small amount of my energon to compare it to energon and low-grade. Scavenger, can you show it to them," Ratchet asked of him.

"Yeah," Scavenger agreed, getting the three cubes out for comparison. "Notice the regular energon," Scavenger told them. "It's a regular blue. Low-grade is a slightly brighter shade of blue. The energon from the body is considerably darker than the others. Do you get that?" Scavenger asked.

"Yes, I do and this very useful information."

**Ammo Gained: Energon Test.**

**Ratchet and Scavenger conducted a test comparing regular, bodily, and low-grade energon. From brightest-to-lowest: low-grade, regular, and bodily.**

"Anything else?" Nightbeat asked.

"Well, there is one more thing I don't know if you're aware of, but do you know his injection cycle?" Ratchet asked.

"No, I don't."

"Well, every time he gets a cube of energon, he puts it in an ejector and injects 25% every 15 minutes."

**Ammo Gained: Shockwave's Injection Cycle**

**Shockwave injects every 25% of energon every 15 minutes.**

DING! DONG!

"The investigation is over! Everyone head over to the cargo elevator on the first floor for the long-awaited trial!

The three robots in the room took in what he said before heading out of their room, dread filling their sparks. They had to make sure that the one who killed Shockwave is expose and dies to save everyone else. I was situation none of them wanted to be in, but they had no choice.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Ratchet grumbled, getting up and heading out of the door.

They all went down the to the elevator and waited for it to fill with everyone else. Once done, Blurr hit the button, causing a racket from the elevator and making it descend down. Everyone in the elevator was glancing at each other, wondering which of them the killer was. Someone had to murder Shockwave and they had to prove who it was. All of their lives depend on it.

The elevator stopped and opened to an underground chamber. Everyone stepped out to see a circle of thirty podiums together. On the wall d8irectly across from them was a giant throne. The walls were painted a garish orange and red pattern.

"Welcome, everyone, to the debate! Please take a seat by your stands marked with your name on it!" he ordered, leading everyone to head where they need to. It didn't take long to figure out how it was ordered. It was arrange in the way that they sat at the lunch table. Apparently, he kept really close tabs on them. They all took their place at their podium, occupying every one of them, except for one which was occupied by…

"What's with the photo?" Perceptor asked as he started at the stand that held Shockwave's photo at his height.

"Just because someone is dead doesn't mean they can't still participate in the debate. Now then, let's go over the rules. Your task is to reason out the identity of the culprit. Succeed and only they will be punished. Fail and only they will not be punished. I assumed everyone understands that?" he asked. The room stayed quiet at what he said. "Alright, then I now pronounced the first class trial to be in session!"


	12. Chapter 1: Trial pt 1

**Have you got your facts straight?**

**1. Monobear file **

Victim's body was found in his dorm room

The time of death was between 8 and 8:30 P.M.

Cause of death is exsanguination.

Victim body had sustain major burns through most of their body. Stab wounds were found on the front of the body.

**2. ****Bludgeon and Nautilator's testimony**

Both of them were in the lunchroom when the crime occur and saw no one come down. One of the first to find the body.

**3. Hoist's Testimony**

Saw the victim talking to Soundwave before party. Was one of the last to see him.

Was watching the second floor. No one came down to the second floor until Skywarp, Bludgeon, Nautilator, and Dead End discovered the body with him.

**4. Skywarp's Testimony **

At the party until about 8:30 P.M.. Spent the rest of his time in his room until he helped found the body.

**5. Signs of a Struggle **

It appears Shockwave was in a fight before he died.

**6. Victim's Last Moments **

Victim was struggling, but not in a fight.

**7. Shower**

The shower was still on when the body was found. Showerhead was pointed at the door.

**8. Energon Splatter**

Energon splatter was found on bathroom walls and shower cubical. Rewind notes that they look slightly strange.

**9. Pink Stains **

Pink stains were found on victim's body.

**10. Can of Pink Paint **

A can of pink paint was found near the closet spilled over.

**11. Missing Page **

Notebook in victim's drawer was missing a page.

Found in Skywarp's room.

**12. Shockwave's Injector **

Shockwave's injector which he uses to feed himself. Found inside a fireproof box that was locked and was empty.

**13. Origin of Fire**

Fire was started in the kitchen.

**14. Mirage's Testimony**

No one at the poker table left the room.

**15. Beachcomber's Testimony **

Skywarp left the room at about 8:30.

**16. Perceptor's Testimony **

Was on the fourth floor the entire time. No one else came to the floor.

**17. Soundwave's Testimony **

Was on the fifth floor the entire time. No one else came up there.

**18. Groundbridge Log**

Groundbridge was used 8 times.

**19. Missing Nail **

One of the nails in the groundbridge vent is brand new.

**20. Dead End's Testimony **

Saw Shockwave steal a portion of the acid during the first day. Noted that victim was planning on killing Skywarp on the fifth day.

Was at the party the whole time until he helped discover the body.

**21. Energon Test **

Ratchet and Scavenger conducted a test comparing regular, bodily, and low-grade energon. From brightest-to-lowest: low-grade, regular, and bodily.

**22. Shockwave's Injection Cycle**

Shockwave injects every 25% of energon every 15 minutes.

* * *

_Court is now in session!_

* * *

"So, how should we get started?" Brawl asked the group. "Never been in something like this?"

"Well, I guess we should just talk and see if something comes up," Jazz said, unsure about this.

"Right, how about we give a run through of events," Hoist suggested.

"Couldn't hurt," Ratchet agreed.

Nightbeat stayed silent, observing everyone. He would have to make sure nobody got anything wrong to stir the court into the right direction.

* * *

_Nonstop Debate!_

Useable ammunition:

Beachcomber's testimony

Mirage's testimony

SMOKESCREEN: I suggested that we have a party today at lunch for 8 .

MIRAGE: Most of the people came, except for a select few.

BLURR: **And no one left.**

ONSLAUGHT: The party went on until 8:45 when the body announcement went off.

CHROMEDOME: After which, we all came down to see Shockwave's corpse.

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: You've got that wrong!

Ammunition used: Beachcomber's testimony

* * *

"Remember what Beachcomber said in his testimony, Blurr?" Night beat asked. "Skywarp left at 8:30."

"Oh, he did?"

"Yes, he did."

"Even I can agree that I left at 8:30," Skywarp agreed.

"I left as well, right before the body was discover," Dead End told him.

"Alright, my bad. Let's get back to discussing the murder," Blurr said, quickly trying to change the subject so he wouldn't be further embarrassed.

* * *

_Nonstop Debate!_

Useable ammunition:

Monobear File #1

Hoist's Testimony

VORTEX: So, we all came down, even the ones who didn't come to the party.

VORTEX: **The room was a burnt mess.**

HOIST: I broke the door down to find the body with Bludgeon.

WILDRIDER: Which meant they couldn't have barge in the first place.

BUMBLEBEE: So, **Shockwave let the culprit in**…

BUMBLEBEE: And the culprit stabbed Shockwave to death!

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: That's a contradiction!

Ammo used: Hoist's Testimony

* * *

"Hoist was playing hall monitor on the second floor. He can testify that no one came to the second floor until the body was discovered," Nightbeat told him.

"Ah, that's true. Well, that puts a hole in my theory," Bumblebee muttered, "unless Hoist was the killer, which I sincerely doubt."

"Could he?" Blast Off. "We shouldn't consider anybody unable to commit murder."

"He has a point," Dead End agreed. "Murder can be caused by the most unlikely of people."

"Can we get back to the topic at hand?" Soundwave asked the group. "We're veering off topic."

"He's right. Let's continue with our discussion." Onslaught agreed.

"How about we discuss the fire?" Counterpunch offer.

* * *

_Nonstop Debate!_

Useable ammunition:

Origin of Fire

Dead End's Testimony

Pink Stains

(**Bold** = weakpoint. **Bold with underline** = correct weakpoint)

COUNTERPUNCH: The fire **started at an undeterminable time.**

SCAVENGER: **And at a place we don't know.**

MIXMASTER: Why did he start to fire?

JAZZ: **To try and hide the cause of death**, of course.

KNOCK OUT: It certainly made it harder for me to find the stab wounds.

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: That's incorrect!

Ammo used: Origin of Fire

* * *

"Swindle was able to correctly determine the location of the fire to the kitchen," Nightbeat informed him.

"Wha- but how? That sounds suspicious to me!" Scavenger badgered

"He used to be an arsonist," Nightbeat told him.

"Wha-"

"How do you know that?" Swindle asked, shocked.

"You told me while you were overloaded," Nightbeat informed him.

"Me and my big mouth," Swindle huffed. "Anyway, I used to be an arsonist, so it wasn't too hard to figure it out."

"Satisfy?" Nightbeat asked Scavenger.

"Uh, yeah," Scavenger said, embarrassed.

"So, after the fire started, the culprit left. Still doesn't answer how the culprit got in the first place," Rewind said.

"Isn't it obvious," Bumblebee said. "Assuming Hoist's testimony is correct, there is only one way into it!" He glared around the room until his gazed settle on Nightbeat. "You know, right?"

"Of course I do," he answered.

"Then tell us," Onslaught beckoned.

* * *

_Epiphany Anagram_

_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/

_/ _/ _/ E/ P/ _/ _/ _/

T/ E/ _/ E/ P/ _/ _/ _/

T/ E/ L/ E/ P/ O/ _/ _/

T/ E/ L/ E/ P/ O/ R/ T/

NIGHTBEAT: Here's your answer.

* * *

"The killer teleported in," Nightbeat told the room.

"Which means there is only one viable candidate for the murder," Onslaught said.

"Yes, it does," Nightbeat agreed, although there was something in his CPU that told him that this was wrong. Still, he had to go with it for now.

* * *

_Make an accusation!_

_(Italicize means dead. Bold means the answer)._

Jazz

Brawl

Mirage

Dead End

Bumblebee

Mixmaster

Blurr

**Skywarp **

Counterpunch

Bludgeon

Drift

Nautilator

Hoist

Blast Off

Rewind

Wildrider

Chromedome

Onslaught

Beachcomber

Swindle

Smokescreen

Knock Out

Ratchet

Scavenger

Perceptor

_Shockwave_

Hound

Vortex

Nightbeat

Soundwave

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: They could've done it!

* * *

"Skywarp is the only person who could've done it," Nightbeat said.

"What!" Skywarp yelled. "I didn't do it. There's another way."

"Really now? Then explain it to us," Brawl threaten, pounding his fist together.

* * *

Nonstop Debate!

Useable Ammunition

SKYWARP: Look, there is **another ****way**.

ONSLAUGHT: I find that hard to believe.

SKYWARP: Look, it's pretty easy.

SKYWARP: All they had to do was **use the groundbridge.**

BEACHCOMBER: That might work.

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: That's wrong!

Ammunition used: Bludgeon and Nautilator's testimony

* * *

"In order to use the groundbridge, they would have to past Bludgeon and Nautilator, who didn't see anyone."

"That is true. We aw no one enter out line of sight," Bludgeon agreed.

"But- but, it's not me!" Skywarp shouted, pounding his fist on the podium.

"Skywarp, tell us the truth," Nightbeat order firmly.

"No, this is stupid! You hear me!" Skywarp berated, not letting go. "Listen to me!"

* * *

_Cross Swords Battle!_

Useable swords:

Can of pink paint

SKYWARP: I wasn't there!

SKYWARP: I was at the party.

SKYWARP: I went to my room after it.

SKYWARP: I'm telling the truth!

…

DEVELOPMENT

…

NIGHTBEAT: Skywarp, we both know you're lying, now speak the truth!

SKYWARP: I am.

SKYWARP: Shockwave was killed by someone else.

SKYWARP: This is all a trap!

SKYWARP: **I was never in Shockwave's room**!

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: I'll cut that claim to pieces.

Sword used: Can of Paint

* * *

Nightbeat slammed his fist on the podium. "There was a can of paint in that room right next to the closet. Now tell me, how does that sound familiar?"

"When he pranked me!" Bumblebee explained, glaring daggers at Skywarp.

"The only reason they would be there would be is if you put it there, and there's evidence that proves it was used!"

* * *

_Present Evidence!_

1. Monobear file

2. Bludgeon and Nautilator's testimony

3. Hoist's Testimony

4. Skywarp's Testimony

5. Signs of a Struggle

6. Victim's Last Moments

7. Shower

8. Energon Splatter

9. **Pink Stains**

10. Can of Pink Paint

11. Missing Page

12. Shockwave's Injector

13. Origin of Fire

14. Mirage's Testimony

15. Beachcomber's Testimony

16. Perceptor's Testimony

17. Soundwave's Testimony

18. Groundbridge Log

19. Missing Nail

20. Dead End's Testimony

21. Energon Test

22. Shockwave's Injection Cycle

* * *

"Shockwave was covered in pink stains, which have to be from the pink paint that you put in there! And judging from the position, you put it in the closet with a string attached to it that would make it fall on anyone who opens it," Nightbeat accused. "So, am I wrong?"

Skywarp was hunched over, gritting his teeth together, glaring at Nightbeat.

"Is that all you got?" Dead End asked, surprising the court.

"Ugh, isn't that enough?" Beachcomber asked.

"Nightbeat, you have prove that Skywarp has been in Shockwave's room, but all this indicates he was there before the party even started. Present something that indicates he was there when the party was in motion," Dead End asked of him.

"Alright, if you say so," Nightbeat agreed, annoyed.

* * *

_Present Evidence! _

1. Monobear file

2. Bludgeon and Nautilator's testimony

3. Hoist's Testimony

4. Skywarp's Testimony

5. Signs of a Struggle

6. Victim's Last Moments

7. Shower

8. Energon Splatter

9. Pink Stains

10. Can of Pink Paint

11. **Missing Page**

12. Shockwave's Injector

13. Origin of Fire

14. Mirage's Testimony

15. Beachcomber's Testimony

16. Perceptor's Testimony

17. Soundwave's Testimony

18. Groundbridge Log

19. Missing Nail

20. Dead End's Testimony

21. Energon Test

22. Shockwave's Injection Cycle

* * *

"This page was missing from Shockwave's notebook and was found in-"

"Skywarp's room. I know," Dead End finished. "It asked him to come at 8:30."

"Wha-" Nightbeat said, before shaking his head and glaring at him. "What was the point of that?"

"To make sure you were paying attention, now Skywarp," he said, looking at Skywarp, "I'd say it's looking pretty damning for you right now, so if you want to avoid any more complications, tell us the truth and we'll see if you did it," Dead End said, trying to comfort him. Skywarp kept his head down, thinking it through. Nightbeat was hoping he was right about Skywarp.

"Alright, I'll talk," Skywarp agreed. "I've entered Shockwave's room today. Twice."

"Go through it slowly," Nightbeat asked.

"So, a little after lunch today, I went to the art room and get some more cans of pink paint and teleported inside Shockwave's room. I went through a thorough examination of the room and decided to place it in the closet. I left after that. About a couple of hours before dinner, I went back to my room for a little. I heard knocking at my door, so I came out to see a note on the floor. It was the missing page you were talking about. Once the party was in motion, I decided to hang out there until the time Shockwave told me to. At 8:30, I teleported out of there and into his room."

"That's when I found him dead," Skywarp said. "I'd- I'd freak out. I didn't know what to do, so I'd just freaked out and went to my room for a little while until I calmed myself down and headed back into the hallway where Hoist was and help find the body. I have no idea how the fire happened or who killed him!" Skywarp finished, sounding like he just had a weight off his shoulders.

"Oh, what a bunch of scrap!" Bumblebee yelled out. "You killed him and set fire to the room, didn't you!"

"What, no I didn't!"

"Yes, you did. Here's what I think happened. You pop in there and Shockwave is alive and well, however he is drenched with paint. He went to the bathroom and asked that you come with him. You, being scare for your life, but wanting to get out of this hellhole, decided to take one of the knives in the kitchen. Shockwave turns on the shower and you come in and stab him. The fight gets out of control, splattering Shockwave's energon everywhere in the bathroom. You, being a scared for your life, warped out and let your fatal wounds finished him off. Then, once that was done, you came back to the room to set fire to the room to hide your crimes. That's how you did it!" Bumblebee accused.

The courtroom was going quiet at that, with many of the people there murmuring agreements to each other. Skywarp was looking on, his face contorted into a face of despair. There was nothing to argue against in that statement.

"Hold on!" Nightbeat yelled out. "There is something wrong with that!"

"Are you a moron? Nightbeat, I get that you're the Ultimate Detective, but the answer is obvious. Why are you against it?"

"Because it wrong and I'm going to prove it too," Nightbeat answered, getting ready to battle.

* * *

_Cross Swords Battle!_

Useable Swords:

Energon Splatter

Energon Test

BUMBLEBEE: I expected better from you.

BUMBLEBEE: Isn't it obvious?

BUMBLEBEE: Skywarp killed Shockwave!

…

DEVELOPMENT

…

NIGHTBEAT: Are you sure everything points to Skywarp killing Shockwave?

NIGHTBEAT: Are you sure you're not missing something?

BUMBLEBEE: I'm not missing anything.

BUMBLEBEE: Skywarp went in there.

BUMBLEBEE: **He got in a fight with him in the bathroom. **

BUMBLEBEE: Than he left him for dead.

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: I'll cut that claim to pieces.

Sword used: Energon Test

* * *

"Ratchet did a test, comparing regular, bodily, and low-grade energon. Compare the three to the splatter in the bathroom and you will see that it's **low-grade splatter all over the bathroom walls**!" Nightbeat explained.

"Hu-agh!" Bumblebee yelled out. "What made you suspicious of it?" he asked of Ratchet.

"Rewind noticed that something looked off about it so I investigated it," Ratchet explained. "Turn out to be a good hunch."

"How did you know something was wrong?" Bumblebee asked Rewind.

"Uh, I'd rather not talk about it? It doesn't have anything to do with this case," Rewind told him.

"Rewind," Chromedome said, "please said it. You not answering is automatically suspicious so just say why." Rewind glance at Chromedome before conceding.

"I, uh, watch snuff footage," Rewind answered which was met by the silence from the court.

"Uh, what?" Skywarp asked.

"Just where did you get this footage?" Chromedome asked, the sound of rage barely escaping from his voice.

"I got them from Swindle!" Rewind answered.

"You rat me out, you piece of scrap!" Swindle yelled out.

"Enough!" Onslaught shouted with a bang on his podium, bringing everybody's attention to him. "Snuff film escapades aside," he said, both him and Chromedome glaring at Swindle and Rewind, respectively, with their best 'we will talk about this later look,' "this is a good point. If the brawl in the bathroom was faked, what else was?" Onslaught asked.

"Probably most of the knife wounds were added postmortem after his death," Nightbeat answered.

"Do you believe me now?" Skywarp asked.

"No, but it does look more believable now," Nightbeat answered honestly.

"Wait, there is one more thing that I have to said," Skywarp said. "It's about the fireproof box."

"What about it?" Nightbeat asked.

"When I first entered his room, I found it in the closet. But, as you remember, I found it in the kitchen cabinet. It was moved," Skywarp answered.

"What?"

"You know, I remember a fireproof box in my closet as well," Vortex noted.

"As do I," Blurr agreed.

"Wait, so the default place for the fireproof box is in the closet?" Nightbeat asked.

"It looks like it," Knock Out agreed.

"Hmmm," Nightbeat silently said to himself before getting his electroID out.

**Location of fireproof box**

**Normally found in the closet, it was found in one of the kitchen cabinets.**

"Alright, so what does that means," Chromedome asked.

"It means the killer moved it for some reason," Blast Off said.

"Are we sure it was the killer?" Nightbeat asked.

"How can you say that, of course it was the killer," Swindle said.

"No, a distinct piece of evidence supports this," Nightbeat said.

* * *

_Present Evidence! _

1. Monobear file

2. Bludgeon and Nautilator's testimony

3. Hoist's Testimony

4. Skywarp's Testimony

5. Signs of a Struggle

6. Victim's Last Moments

7. Shower

8. Energon Splatter

9. **Pink Stains **

10. Can of Pink Paint

11. Missing Page

12. Shockwave's Injector

13. Origin of Fire

14. Mirage's Testimony

15. Beachcomber's Testimony

16. Perceptor's Testimony

17. Soundwave's Testimony

18. Groundbridge Log

19. Missing Nail

20. Dead End's Testimony

21. Energon Test

22. Shockwave's Injection Cycle

23. Location of Fireproof Box

* * *

"I'm pretty sure Shockwave got those pink stains when he was getting the box out of the closet," he answered. "Hoist can testify that Shockwave didn't have those pink stains at his last appearance alive."

"I can."

"And, in order to have get the fireproof box in the first place, he would have to get splatter by the bucket of paint just waiting for them to enter."

"Exactly," Knock Out agreed.

"But why would he need the box for?" Nautilator asked.

"He wanted to protect what was in it, probably," Skywarp answered.

"Actually, I think he got the box out to put the injector in it," Nightbeat said.

"What?"

"He did it so the killer couldn't get to it," Nightbeat explained. "You said it yourself Skywarp. You had to break the lock in order to use it."

"Which means what exactly?"

"It means…" Nightbeat trailed off. "I know who did it."

"Wait, you do?" Knock Out asked.

"Yes, I do, maybe, Nightbeat murmured. "Mixmaster, what can you tell me about the acid when added to another substance such as energon?"

"Well, it would add itself too it and camouflage itself as part of the thing before the combination causes it to evaporate, leaving no trace of it. Shouldn't take more than thirty minutes."

"That's what I thought. Let me just….

**Ammo Gained: Acid effects**

**Acid melds with substance until it evaporates in thirty minutes.**

"One more thing. Skywarp, did you happen to find the acid there when you were rummaging through the room.

"No."

"Hoist, you and Soundwave fixed the groundbridge today in the morning, correct?" he asked them.

"Yes, we did and Soundwave tested it out once we were done."

"Both of you update your testimony to include that."

**Ammo Updated: Hoist's Testimony**

**Helped fix the groundbridge this morning with Soundwave, who tested it out. **

**Saw the victim talking to Soundwave before party. Was one of the last to see him.**

**Was watching the second floor. No one came down to the second floor until Skywarp, Bludgeon, Nautilator, and Dead End discovered the body with him.**

**Ammo gained: Soundwave's testimony**

**Helped fix the groundbridge this morning with Hoist and tested it himself.**

**Was on the fifth floor the entire time. No one else came up there.**

"So, exactly what does this mean?" Nautilator asked. "There is no way to use the groundbridge without being spotted by me and Bludgeon.

"It means I've figured it out."

"…!"

"The killer is…"

* * *

_Make an accusation! _

Jazz

Brawl

Mirage

Dead End

Bumblebee

Mixmaster

Blurr

Skywarp

Counterpunch

Bludgeon

Drift

Nautilator

Hoist

Blast Off

Rewind

Wildrider

Chromedome

Onslaught

Beachcomber

Swindle

Smokescreen

Knock Out

Ratchet

Scavenger

Perceptor

_Shockwave_

Hound

Vortex

Nightbeat

Soundwave


	13. Chapter 1: Trial PT 2

**Have you got your facts straight?**

**1. Monobear file **

Victim's body was found in his dorm room

The time of death was between 8 and 8:30 P.M.

Cause of death is exsanguination.

Victim body had sustain major burns through most of their body. Stab wounds were found on the front of the body.

**2. Bludgeon and Nautilator's testimony**

Both of them were in the lunchroom when the crime occur and saw no one come down. One of the first to find the body.

**3. Hoist's Testimony**

Helped fix the groundbridge this morning with Soundwave, who tested it out.

Saw the victim talking to Soundwave before party. Was one of the last to see him.

Was watching the second floor. No one came down to the second floor until Skywarp, Bludgeon, Nautilator, and Dead End discovered the body with him.

**4. Skywarp's Testimony **

At the party until about 8:30 P.M. Spent the rest of his time in his room until he helped found the body.

**5. Signs of a Struggle **

It appears Shockwave was in a fight before he died.

**6. Victim's Last Moments **

Victim was struggling, but not in a fight.

**7. Shower**

The shower was still on when the body was found. Showerhead was pointed at the door.

**8. Energon Splatter**

Energon splatter was found on bathroom walls and shower cubical. Rewind notes that they look slightly strange.

**9. Pink Stains **

Pink stains were found on victim's body.

**10. Can of Pink Paint **

A can of pink paint was found near the closet spilled over.

**11. Missing Page **

Notebook in victim's drawer was missing a page.

Found in Skywarp's room.

**12. Shockwave's Injector **

Shockwave's injector which he uses to feed himself. Found inside a fireproof box that was locked and was empty.

**13. Origin of Fire**

Fire was started in the kitchen.

**14. Mirage's Testimony**

No one at the poker table left the room.

**15. Beachcomber's Testimony **

Skywarp left the room at about 8:30.

**16. Perceptor's Testimony **

Was on the fourth floor the entire time. No one else came to the floor.

**17. Soundwave's Testimony **

Helped fix the groundbridge this morning with Hoist and tested it himself.

Was on the fifth floor the entire time. No one else came up there.

**18. Groundbridge Log**

Groundbridge was used 8 times.

**19. Nail in Vent**

One of the nails in the groundbridge vent is brand new.

**20. Missing Nail**

One of the nails in the tool room is missing.

**21. Dead End's Testimony **

Saw Shockwave steal a portion of the acid during the first day. Noted that victim was planning on killing Skywarp on the fifth day.

Was at the party the whole time until he helped discover the body.

**22. Energon Test **

Ratchet and Scavenger conducted a test comparing regular, bodily, and low-grade energon. From brightest-to-lowest: low-grade, regular, and bodily.

**23. Shockwave's Injection Cycle**

Shockwave injects every 25% of energon every 15 minutes.

**24.** **Location of fireproof box**

Normally found in the closet, it was found in one of the kitchen cabinets.

**25.**** Acid Effects**

Acid melds with substance until it evaporates in thirty minutes.

* * *

_Court is now back in session!_

* * *

Make an accusation!

Jazz

Brawl

Mirage

Dead End

Bumblebee

Mixmaster

Blurr

Skywarp

Counterpunch

Bludgeon

Drift

Nautilator

Hoist

Blast Off

Rewind

Wildrider

Chromedome

Onslaught

Beachcomber

Swindle

Smokescreen

Knock Out

Ratchet

Scavenger

Perceptor

Shockwave

Hound

Vortex

Nightbeat

**Soundwave**

* * *

"Soundwave," Nightbeat accused as he glanced right next to him, "you're the one who murdered Shockwave."

The silence came to the courtroom as Nightbeat's accusation suddenly reached their mind, trying to comprehend it.

"That's impossible," Perceptor said first. "He was right above me the entire time. I can confirm that he didn't come down."

"That's because he didn't use the stairs," Nightbeat told him.

"What? Explain yourself!"

"Yes, how could I have gone down there?" Soundwave asked in Thundercracker's voice. "Perceptor and everyone else can acknowledge that I didn't leave the fifth floor."

"Alright, let me tell you," Nightbeat said.

* * *

_Epiphany Anagram!_

_/ _/ _/ _/

_/ _/ N/ _/

V/ _/ N/ _/

V/ E/ N/ _/

V/ E/ N/ T/

NIGHTBEAT: This is it!

* * *

"The vents were used," Nightbeat told him.

"You think I can fit in them?" Soundwave asked.

"I didn't say that you used them," Nightbeat told him.

"Hmm?"

* * *

_Epiphany Anagram_

_/ _/ _/

_/ E/ _/

P/ E/ _/

P/ E/ T/

NIGHTBEAT: This did!

* * *

"You used laserbeak to go through the vents," Nightbeat answered.

"Hmm, I've heard ridiculous ideas before, but that nears the top of the list," Mirage said. "Even Wheeljack gives saner ideas than that."

"He may have a point," Onslaught said.

"No he doesn't. This is ridiculous," Bumblebee shot back.

Nightbeat didn't feel good about this. He needed to prove that Laserbeak was used to help Soundwave with the murder and fast.

* * *

_Nonstop Debate! _

Ammo Available:

Missing Nail

Nail in Vent

Victim's Last Moment

Groundbridge Log

Signs of Struggle

BUMBLEBEE: How the frag could Laserbeak help with the murder?

BUMBLEBEE: **Did it somehow wield a knife?**

BLURR: It just seems outlandish.

BLURR: How could it **cause knife wounds**?

ONSLAUGHT: **Maybe the room wasn't its intended target.**

HOUND: **Maybe it went to get something.**

VORTEX: It could've been **stealing something from someone else's room.**

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: I agree!

Ammo used: Groundbridge log

* * *

"Onslaught is correct. The room wasn't the target of Laserbeak. It was the groundbridge. Hound put up a memory cache to record usage of the groundbridge and it was used eight times that day, not including the time Hound and Soundwave tested it," Nightbeat told them. "Last I checked, no one else used it. If I'm wrong, correct me." No one did.

"This is still a bit far-fetch. Is there any proof that the groundbridge was the intended target?" Perceptor asked.

"Yes, there is. Two in fact," Nightbeat told him.

"Two?" Perceptor asked.

"Yes, and they are…."

* * *

_Present Evidence! _

1. Monobear file

2. Bludgeon and Nautilator's testimony

3. Hoist's Testimony

4. Skywarp's Testimony

5. Signs of a Struggle

6. Victim's Last Moments

7. Shower

8. Energon Splatter

9. Pink Stains

10. Can of Pink Paint

11. Missing Page

12. Shockwave's Injector

13. Origin of Fire

14. Mirage's Testimony

15. Beachcomber's Testimony

16. Perceptor's Testimony

17. Soundwave's Testimony

18. Groundbridge Log

19. **Nail in Vent**

20. **Missing Nail**

21. Dead End's Testimony

22. Energon Test

23. Shockwave's Injection Cycle

24. Location of Fireproof Box

25. Acid effects

* * *

"One of the nails in the vent in the groundbridge room had a new nail in it and one of the nails in the tool room was missing. Hound can confirm that that there were 364 nails last he check and there are now 363. Laserbeak probably broke the nail in the groundbridge while breaking in, causing Soundwave to have to use a new one to repair it," Nightbeat explained.

"That is quite the imagination you got there," Soundwave said, "but that's all that is. Hoist may have been wrong about the amount of nails there were when he last check. The nail could've been broken before we came in and the headmaster fixed it right before we came. None of what you've said is definitive proof. Only circumstantial."

"It's enough to cause suspicion," Nightbeat reminded him.

"And that's it while Skywarp is by far the more suspicious one. We have definitive proof he was there. Thinking I did it is a waste of time."

* * *

Cross swords battle!

Swords available:

Monobear file #1

Signs of Struggle

Shockwave's injector

SOUNDDWAVE: This is a foolish assessment.

SOUNDWAVE: Skywarp came in the room.

SOUNDWAVE: He admitted it.

SOUNDWAVE: A note beckoned him to come.

SOUNDWAVE: He dealt Shockwave the killing blow.

…

Development

…

NIGHTBEAT: But are we sure he dealt it?

SOUNDWAVE: Is there any doubt?

SOUNDWAVE: Shockwave confronted Skywarp.

SOUNDWAVE: Skywarp was afraid for his life.

SOUNDWAVE: **He stabbed Shockwave to death.**

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: That claim is wrong!

Sword used: Monobear file #1

* * *

"There is doubt to Shockwave dying by being stabbed," Nightbeat informed him. "Cause of death was listed as exsanguination."

"That is an incredibly flimsy excuse to rebuttal with," Soundwave remarked.

"Maybe, but it's still didn't list being stabbed as the cause of death. We only listed the stab wounds after Knock Out found them and we've already guessed that most of them were probably delivered postmortem."

"So, what is the point you are making?"

"I'm saying, what if he was bleeding out **internally**?" Nightbeat asked.

"Internally?" Soundwave asked.

"Yes," Nightbeat confirmed.

"So he was beaten to death?" Beachcomber questioned.

"No, but I think I know what did kill him," Nightbeat said.

* * *

Epiphany Anagram!

_/_/_/_/

A/ _/ _/ _/

A/ C/ _/ _/

A/ C/ I/ _/

A/ C/ I/ D/

NIGHTBEAT: This killed Shockwave!

* * *

"The missing acid was used to kill Shockwave," Nightbeat told him.

"That is insane! I love it!" Wildrider exclaimed. "I'm for it!"

"Soundwave would dare kill Shockwave in such a dishonorable way?" Bludgeon asked.

"He could. Hoist did say that he gave Shockwave's his injector full of energon. What if it was tamper with?" Onslaught told him.

"This doesn't make any sense," Soundwave told them. "This is all still circumstantial."

"I thinking it isn't," Nightbeat told him. "You staged the fire so we all think that you were hiding the stab wounds when in actuality you were using it to lure us away from the acid that you fooled Shockwave in using. That's why he put the injector in the box. He was preventing you from disposing of the murder weapon!"

"This is not proof," Soundwave kept calmly saying.

"Soundwave, said that to me in my face instead of behind a mask!" Nightbeat told him. Soundwave stared at him, unmoving. Nightbeat wondered if he would do what was requested of him before the glass part of the mask lifted up, revealing Soundwave's and his mysterious purple eyes staring at him.

"What you have said is not proof and never will be," he informed him in his actual voice, sounding rough, like sandpaper.

"Quick question: you were watching the cameras of our games right?" Nightbeat asked.

"Correct."

"Then tell me who was first eliminated from the poker table."

"Blurr."

"How?"

"Scavenger eliminated him."

"With what?"

At that, Soundwave hesistated, not knowing how to answer that, before finally answering, "Four of a kind," he told him.

"That's wrong!" Smokescreen shouted, slamming his fist on the table. "He was taken out by a royal flush. If you really watched that hand, you would've known because we all made a big deal out of it."

"That's just a lapse in memory," Soundwave told them.

"Fine then, some more questions. Who went up against each other in the third match of pool?" Nightbeat asked.

"Jazz and Dead End."

"Who won?"

"Dead End"

"Which pocket?"

"Corner."

"How many balls did Jazz knocked in?"

Once again, Soundwave hesitated before he answered. "Four."

"Actually, it was zero," Jazz informed him. "Dead End is a pool shark."

Soundwave flinched at that before quickly regaining his composure. "Is that it?" he asked them. "I'm guilty because I answered a couple of questions wrong?"

"No, but it means we're less likely to believe you," Nightbeat informed him.

"Hmm, I guess that's fair," Soundwave agreed, seemingly unaffected by Nightbeat's question, even though several people around the room were now thinking he did it. "Now, I think it's time to get back to discussion of who the real murderer is."

"Soundwave, it could've only been you now accept your defeat," Nightbeat told him.

"Like I've said before, it's only circumstantial. Nothing is definitive," he informed him.

Nightbeat gritted his teeth in annoyance at the mostly silent con's persistence, but relented. It looked like another debate was sparking up amongst everyone else.

* * *

Nonstop Debate!

Ammo available:

Monobear File #1

Signs of a Struggle

Energon Splatter

Showerhead

Victim's Last moments

BUMBLEBEE: Can we put these **theories to rest**?

BLAST OFF: Agree.

BLAST OFF: **Skywarp had to have killed Shockwave.**

BLAST OFF: **Nothing suggests it was acid** that killed Shockwave.

CHROMEDOME: It's still suspicious.

CHROMEDOME: **Maybe Soundwave did poison Shockwave. **

BLAST OFF: And you are foolish to believe that.

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: You're wrong!

Ammo used: Victim's Last Moments

* * *

"Chromedome said that Shockwave was struggling, but not in a fight in his final moments."

"I did, correct."

"We've all assume that it was because he bleeding out from knife wounds, but what if it he was bleeding out because of the acid?"

"That could be true," Blast Off agreed. "You known, assuming Soundwave is the killer and wanted us to assume Shockwave was stabbed, maybe he could've left some evidence behind?" Blast Off asked.

Nonstop Debate!

Ammo available:

Signs of Struggle

Showerhead

Monobear File #1

Energon Splatter

Shockwave's Injector

BLAST OFF: If acid was used…

BLAST OFF: than it makes sense to **fake a struggle**.

BRAWL: **Like the energon splatter.**

NAUTILATOR: **But we didn't find any cubes** in Shockwave's room.

BLURR: **That doesn't matter**.

BLURR: If you wanted to fake a struggle…

BLURR: You wouldn't **leave a cube behind** to disprove that.

* * *

Nightbeat: I agree!

Evidence used: Shower

* * *

"Remember the showerhead? It was still on. He used that to prevent the fire from entering the room so that the energon could be used to indicate a sign of a struggle."

"There you go again with circumstantial evidence," Soundwave exasperated. "Shockwave was cover in paint. It makes sense that he would use the shower to rinse it off. "

"Would he point it at the door?" Nightbeat asked.

"No, he wouldn't" Onslaught agreed. "The killer positioned it so that the fire would be unable to reach the bathroom."

"The door was closed too," Rewind noted. "He could've used that to help block the fire."

"Nightbeat," Bumblebee said, "the low-grade energon splatter. Can you tell us when he got it? I was on energon duty on the fourth floor, with Perceptor keeping watch of the floor during the party. Swindle and Smokescreen were watching during the preparations and the party prevented him from getting it. So tell me, how did he procure it?"

* * *

_Logic dive!_

#1: What was used to fake the energon splatter?

Low-grade

B. Regular Energon

…..

**A. Low grade**

…

#2. How did he get it?

A. Stairs

B. Groundbridge

…

**B. Groundbridge**

…

#3. Where did he get it?

A. Fourth Floor Lounge

B. Third Floor lounge

…

**A. Fourth Floor Lounge**

NIGHTBEAT: I got it!

* * *

"He used the groundbridge to procure it from the fourth floor during the party," Nightbeat told him. "It's the only time he could've got it without being spotted."

"That makes sense," Bumblebee agreed. "Assuming that's true, what was the order of the locations he went to?"

"The order?"

Yes. We can hazard guesses that the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th, was him entering the spacebridge room and the 8th, was used to take him back to the A/V room. What rooms did he go to for the 2nd, 4th, and 6th teleport?"

"Hmm, that's easy, just some simple deduction could figure that out," Nightbeat told him.

* * *

_Logic dive!_

…

#1: Where did Soundwave go during the 2nd teleport?

A. Shockwave's room

B. Fourth Floor lounge

C. Tool room

…

**B. Fourth floor lounge**

…

2. Where did Soundwave go during the 4th teleport?

A. Shockwave's room

B. Tool Room

C. A/V Room

…

**A. Shockwave's room **

…

#3. Where did Soundwave go for the 6th teleport?

A. Back to the lounge

B. A/V room

C. Tool Room

…

**C. Tool Room**

Nightbeat: This is it.

* * *

"He went to the lounge first to get the low-grade follow by Shockwave's room to plant the evidence and set fire to the room using the excess low-grade. He would have gone back to the A/V room during the sixth teleport if he hadn't realize that Laserbeak screw him over by accidently breaking one of the nails, rendering it unusable. He use the 6th teleport to head to the tool room to get the nail to place it in the broken one's place to hide the fact," Nightbeat told him.

"That sounds reasonable," Bumblebee agreed.

"Don't humor his outlandish assumptions anymore that you have to," Soundwave ordered, glaring at the yellow annoyance. "While he says is feasible, it still unlikely."

"To be honest, I'm surprise you got it done so quickly," Nightbeat told him.

"Oh," Soundwave said, "What do you mean by that?"

"He means he's surprised you got it done in the 45 minutes you had," Onslaught told him.

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of 15," Nightbeat told him.

"What?"

"Think about it, it's pretty obvious he's been setting up Skywarp for the fall the whole time. Do you find it coincidental that the time the note asked for Skywarp was during the party?"

"Explain yourself!"

* * *

_Logic Dive!_

…

#1: What was used to set Skywarp up?

A. Energon Splatter

B. Missing Page

C. Can of Pink Paint

…

**B. Missing page**

…

#2: Why did the note asked for Skywarp to come at 8:30?

A. To have a meeting

B. To make him have no alibi

C. To ask for dating tips

...

**B. To make him have no alibi**

…

#3: Who wrote the note?

A. Soundwave

B. Monobear

C. Shockwave

…

**A. Soundwave**

…

#4: How did he know Skywarp would do as the note said?

A. His Instincts

B. Laserbeak

C. Security Cameras

…

**C. Security Cameras**

NIGHTBEAT: This is how!

* * *

"Soundwave is very crafty, I'll have to give him that much. He faked the note to make it look like Shockwave wrote it. Probably wrote it after the lunch, because that's when the party was announced. He placed it on Skywarp's door and waited for the party to come. Once the party started, he watched Skywarp's movements using the security cameras he hacked into until he teleported away to ensure Skywarp had no alibi."

"That crafty glitch spawn!" Brawl shouted.

"There is no proof that I wrote the note," Soundwave told him.

"Correct, there isn't, but it's still highly coincidental," Nightbeat told him.

"Therefore circumstantial. It does nothing to proof I did kill Shockwave," Soundwave told him, although it sounded like the room was split, people unsure of who to actually vote for. "This has been a spectacular waste of time. Let's move on to the actual vote," Soundwave told the group.

"No, not until you admit that you killed Shockwave!" Nightbeat exclaimed.

"Is it about the note, because it's quite obvious to me why Shockwave wanted Skywarp to come into his room."

"What is it?"

* * *

Cross Swords Battle!

Swords Available:

Perceptor's Testimony

Hoist's Testimony

Soundwave's Testimony

Bludgeon and Nautilator's testimony

Dead End's Testimony

SOUNDWAVE: Shockwave was planning on killing Skywarp.

SOUNDWAVE: He wrote the note and placed it on Skywarp's room.

SOUNDWAVE: Skywarp came in just as he was ordered to.

SOUNDWAVE: Shockwave tries to kill him.

SOUNDWAVE: He fails and gets killed instead.

…

DEVELOPMENT

…

NIGHTBEAT: That clearly contradicts something.

SOUNDWAVE: What is it?

SOUNDWAVE: **Shockwave wanted to kill Skywarp**.

SOUNDWAVE: They both wanted to get out of here.

SOUNDWAVE: Shockwave to Cybertron and his freak experiments.

SOUNDWAVE: Skywarp to his trinemates.

SOUNDWAVE: Shockwave wanted to kill Skywarp.

SOUNDWAVE: **On this day.**

SOUNDWAVE: Nothing else is there for us.

NIGHTBEAT: I'll cut that down!

Sword used: Dead End's Testimony.

* * *

"Today is the fourth day we've been in here. Dead End told us that Shockwave's was going to kill Skywarp **on the fifth!**"

"That doesn't matter. He just decided to move it up a day," Soundwave told him.

"Actually it does, considering the fact there is a party here. If Skywarp died outside the party, he would be a prime suspect, so he had no reason to move it up a day. It would be illogical of him to do."

"But… but…"

"There is nothing to argue about that! Shockwave built his life around logic so he wouldn't do something as stupid as this," Nightbeat told him. "Give it up!"

"No! If you vote for me, then we'll never see another day except for Skywarp and he would get away with murder," Soundwave told him, losing his calm demeanor. "We'll all died because of that stupid prankster."

"Nightbeat, if you have any decisive evidence to show Soundwave's the murderer, now's the time to use it," Ratchet told him.

"Shut it!" Soundwave yelled out. "There is no decisive evidence that shows I am the murder, because I'm not the murderer!"

Nightbeat silently agreed with Ratchet. It hurts to have to do this, but someone must die in order for everyone else to live and it would have to be Soundwave.

* * *

_Machine Gun Talk Battle!_

Ammo Available:

Shockwave's Injection Cycle

Shield X6

SOUNDWAVE: There is no decisive evidence that I'm the murderer!

Shield X5

SOUNDWAVE: Why are you not suspicious of Skywarp!

Shield X4

SOUNDWAVE: Skywarp killed him with a knife!

Shield X3

SOUNDWAVE: I'm innocent!

Shield X2

SOUNDWAVE: Nothing about what you say makes sense!

Shield X1

SOUNDWAVE: This is all nonsense!

_Shield destroyed!_

SOUNDWAVE: **There is nothing to prove that the acid in his injector killed Shockwave!**

* * *

NIGHTBEAT: Yes there is!

Ammo Used: Shockwave's Injection Cycle

* * *

"Shockwave injects every 25% of his energon into his body every fifteen minutes. When we found the body at 8:45 P.M., the injector was empty. Skywarp found him dead at 8:30. You gave him an injector full of energon just before the party started at around 8. So, when we found the injector, why was it empty?"

"Maybe he didn't follow protocol?" Soundwave asked, shaken.

"That would be strange if Shockwave disregarded his cycle at the exact time frame he was murder," Nightbeat told him. "He's never gone off schedule before."

"That would explain why we found the injector in the box," Skywarp said.

"And why he started the fire in the kitchen. To try to get rid of the damning evidence," Swindle said.

"As it stands, the reason why the injector is empty…"

* * *

_Present Evidence! _

1. Monobear file

2. Bludgeon and Nautilator's testimony

3. Hoist's Testimony

4. Skywarp's Testimony

5. Signs of a Struggle

6. Victim's Last Moments

7. Shower

8. Energon Splatter

9. Pink Stains

10. Can of Pink Paint

11. Missing Page

12. Shockwave's Injector

13. Origin of Fire

14. Mirage's Testimony

15. Beachcomber's Testimony

16. Perceptor's Testimony

17. Soundwave's Testimony

18. Groundbridge Log

19. Nail in Vent

20. Missing Nail

21. Dead End's Testimony

22. Energon Test

23. Shockwave's Injection Cycle

24. Location of Fireproof Box

25. **Acid effects**

* * *

"Is because of the acid. It's the only reason why the injector was empty. Is there any reason to be against this?" Nightbeat asked.

"Uh…uh…." Soundwave grunted.

"One more question," Dead End said. "When was the acid stolen from Shockwave?"

* * *

When was the poison stolen?

A. In the morning

B. In the afternoon

C. Right before the party

D. During the party

…

**A. In the morning**

* * *

"In the morning, during the first groundbridge usage. He probably figured out that Shockwave had the acid by using the cameras and stole it during the test run of the groundbridge."

"That makes sense," Dead End agreed. "Alright then, finish this."

Nightbeat gave a quick nod of his head and began explaining.

* * *

_Climax Inference!_

Chapter 1:

That morning, everyone was following the same schedule they had been following, except for one person: the culprit. During that morning, they helped fix the groundbridge and used it for a test run. During that test run, they went into Shockwave's room and steal the acid Shockwave had stolen before and a piece of paper from his notebook and subspace it to hid it from Hoist as he came back through the groundbridge.

Chapter 2:

That afternoon, Smokescreen announced a party co-opted by him and Swindle. Sensing the perfect opportunity to commit the murder and have a fall-guy, the culprit wrote a note in Shockwave's hand-writing on the piece of paper he stole from Shockwave's room and planted at on Skywarp's door, planning on using him as the fall-guy.

Chapter 3:

Right before the party began, the culprit did a request for Shockwave, getting him an injector full of energon. However, there was a surprise in that; it was laced with Mixmaster's acid. Once the door closed and Soundwave walked away under the watchful eye of Hoist, Shockwave injected himself with the poisoned energon.

Chapter 4

Not having long left to live, Shockwave quickly put the injector in the fire-proof box in the closet, getting covered in Skywarp's paint that he left there for when Shockwave opened the closet door. Not wishing for the device to be found by the killer, he quickly put it in one of the kitchen cabinets. Not long after, Shockwave promptly died.

Chapter 5

At 8:30, Skywarp left the party under the guise that he was mad at being beat by Knock Out, setting the culprit's plan in motion. In open the vent in the A/V room's side room and sended his pet in there to the groundbriodge room. Once there, the pet set the coordinates to the A/V room and the culprit entered the groundbridge without arousing the attention of Nautilator and Bludgeon. He quickly set a coordinate to the fourth floor lounge and grabbed as much low-grade he could carry.

Chapter 6

The culprit entered the Shockwave's room with the low-grade he had, Skywarp having already retreated to his room. He took a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Shockwave's corpse with it several times and flipped it over, covering the wounds. He put the knife back and went to the bathroom with the low-grade. He splatter the walls and shower cubical with it and turned the shower on to help keep those around for the next part of his plan.

Chapter 7

He closed the bathroom door and began the next part. He used all the excess low-grade with him and set it up to make a large fire. He sent a message to Laserbeak to send in the groundbridge and Soundwave left, but not before he started the fire.

Chapter 8

At that point, his plan should've been done, but there was a slight mishap. His pet broke the nails on one of the vents, preventing him from putting it back. He quickly set a coordinate to the tool room and went to retrieve a nail in there. He came back and put the nail in place, covering his actions. He took the bent nail with him and headed back to the A/V room, where he stayed until the body was discover.

There was only one person who could've done all of this and that was **Soundwave**.

* * *

Soundwave stayed silent, still glaring down at his podium. He didn't move as he absorbed what Nightbeat had said to him. Finally, he spoke calmly.

"That is correct. I am the one who murdered Shockwave."


	14. Chapter 1: Execution and Aftermath

The teachers stood silent at the confession of Soundwave. They hadn't expect the silent 'Con to actually say that he killed Shockwave. Before anyone else could comment, Soundwave began fishing something from subspace and pulled it out.

A bent nail.

"Who knew something so innocuous could lead to my doom," Soundwave said to himself, staring at the nail for a few seconds before letting it drop to the ground, the sound resonating loudly to the room. "I believe it is now time to vote," he told the room.

"You got that right, Sounders! Would everybody pull out their electroID? I've added a new program to it." Everybody paused before reaching for their electroID. The only ones who didn't hesitate were Soundwave and Wildrider. Nightbeat turned his on and saw the new program added to it, labeled simply as 'Voting'. He turned it on to see thirty square panels, each with a name and colored picture of a teacher on them. The only odd one out was Shockwave, who had a black and white picture with a bloody, blue X on it. Nightbeat quickly looked for Soundwave and clicked on it. His picture suddenly went full-screen with a small text window asking 'yes' or 'no' if he was the culprit. Nightbeat quickly clicked yes and the text window went away to the picture of Soundwave, now exactly like Shockwave's.

Nightbeat looked up to see most of them were already done, with a few stragglers still haven't voted. They eventually got done until it was down to Beachcomber. He was still struggling with voting until he put the device down. "No way, man. I'm not voting. This is horrible," he said.

"What! You have to!" the bear threatened.

"It's not in the school rules," Beachcomber told him, crossing his arm and looking away from him.

"He has a point," Onslaught agreed, taking pity on the small blue bot. "It isn't in the school rules so you can't punish him for it."

"I thought it was," Monobear complained, looking at the rules.

"You said attendance was mandatory. You said nothing about voting being mandatory," Onslaught told him.

"Participation," Monobear read out.

"Yes, and he has already participated, therefore he isn't required to vote," Onslaught told him. The bear looked at it with a frustrated look before saying

"Fine. His vote will be disregarded this time," Monobear threaten, "but expect another rule to be coming up after the trial ends. " Beachcomber gave a sign of relief as he put his electroID up. "Now then, time to tally the votes! Did you choose correctly? Did you –"

"Oh, get it over with," Soundwave ordered. The bear looked shock before conceding.

"Fine, everybody looked at the slot machine," he told them. Everybody looked confused until they saw a slot machine on the wall.

"I don't remember that being there," Hound mentioned.

"Anyway, let's start it up!" Monobear said. The slot machine started going quickly before it landed on three pictures of Soundwave. All of sudden, a burst of confetti and coins erupted from the machine, causing some confused looks from everybody. "Congratulations! You got it right, you slaggers! Soundwave, the Ultimate Communications Expert, murdered Shockwave, the Ultimate Logician. It was a clean sweep, too. Aside from Beachcomber, everybody voted for Soundwave, including Soundwave himself."

"Was there an outcome more obvious?" Soundwave asked.

"Probably not," the bear confessed.

"Why?" Jazz asked of Soundwave. "Why did you murdered Shockwave?"

"Shouldn't that be obvious? We all got one."

"The video!"

"Exactly."

"But what was in the video?" Jazz asked.

"That I won't tell," Soundwave told him.

"Well then, good thing I will!" the bear said as he brought out a giant screen from out of nowhere. Soundwave's face quickly formed a look of apprehension before returning to a neutral look.

The video came up to show a video clip of Soundwave working on a console with Laserbeak and Buzzsaw on his shoulders. In the background, you could see Frenzy and Rumble messing with each other and Ravage laying contently on the floor. "Awwww, look at Soundwave with all of his minicons. He cares so much about them, like he would for a protoform." Suddenly, static appeared, blocking the screen before the video came back on, showing an image of Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, and Buzzsaw laying on the floor, unmoving. "Oh no, whatever happened to them! If Soundwave wants to find out, he'll have to graduate to see them!"

The video came to an end and everybody was feeling a little sick. They had seen why Soundwave killed and it felt too private for them to intrude on. Soundwave looked unaffected by it. He just stand there, solitary.

"Now that the motive's been reveal, let's get on with the execution!" the bear shouted.

"One more request," Soundwave said as he stared at everyone.

"What, you murderer," Monokuma asked.

"Skywarp, I request that you take care of Laserbeak," Soundwave said as Laserbeak disengaged from his chest and flew around the room until it landed on Skywarp's podium. "I am sorry for framing you," Soundwave said to the prankster.

"That's okay, dude. I forgive you," Skywarp said, as he stared at the creature on his podium. It was the least he could do.

"I want all of you to make sure he treats him nicely," Soundwave ordered. Everyone gave a nod of approval. "Nightbeat."

"Yes."

"You were almost completely accurate with your assessment. Just one thing, I didn't know Shockwave had the acid from the security cameras."

"What, than how did-"

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss that," Soundwave said. "For their sake."

"Who-" but Soundwave cut him off again.

"And for the rest of you, just one more thing. The videos that we all saw? **They are all real**," he told them simply.

With that, a chorus of questions was all asked at the same time, wondering if he was speaking the truth.

"Very well, I believe it's time for me to go. Hopefully, the rest of you can live through this and kill this vermin," Soundwave said.

"Well, since you're done, we can finally get to the first execution!" the bear said as he twisted behind him to bring out a gavel. Suddenly, a small podium came out of the floor with a big, red button at the top of it. Monobear brought his arm up and brought the gavel down on the button with a loud bang.

* * *

_GAME OVER_

_Soundwave has been found guilty_

_Commencing execution_

* * *

_Soundwave stood stock still as the judgment had been given. He seemed to have accepted his fate with an eerie calm. The others were staring, waiting to see what happens. _

_Without warning, two chain comes out of wall and latches on to his right wrist and right ankle and pulls hard. Soundwave didn't have much time to react as he was quickly pulled to the wall, impacting hard._

_Soundwave stayed in mid-air, hanging from the chains. Soundwave wondered what the point of the chains was when he heard the distinct sound of a portal opening._

* * *

_THE PROBLEM WITH PORTALS_

* * *

_Soundwave quickly flicked his gaze over to the forming portal right above the debate circle. Most of the onlookers were wondering what was going on as more chains came from the portal and wrapped themselves around Soundwave's left wrist and ankle and started pulling him towards it. _

_The chains from the wall didn't try to pull as Soundwave dragged towards the portal. Right before he reached the portal, the chains from the wall started pulling again, bringing Soundwave to a halt right before the portal. _

_The chains proceeded to play a game of tug-of-war with each other, with the chains from the portal slowly winning as Soundwave was dragged closer and closer to the ominous green light. Slowly he began entering the portal. _

_Everyone watched as Soundwave was gradually entering the portal. He was a quarter a way there; then he was a halfway there. _

_And then the portal closed._

_One half of Soundwave was on the other side of the portal. _

_The other side was with the onlookers as the body started pouring energon on them as the chains pulled the body backed to the wall, landing with a hard crunch!_

_With that, the right side of Soundwave hanged limply from the wall._

* * *

The reaction was immediate as everyone digested the brutal display that they saw. The immediate reaction was screaming, none louder than…

"My finish!" Knock Out yelled out in anguish, as he was positively drenched in Soundwave's energon.

"Is that all you have to complain about?" Ratchet asked the vain medic, equally covered in Soundwave's energon.

"Look at me!" Knock Out complained, looking positively blue."Are we done with the trial?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Monobear replied.

"Then I'm getting out of here," Knock Out said, running to the elevator.

"Dudes, what the hell was that?" Beachcomber asked, keeping his optics away from the body of Soundwave, his body still dripping with energon.

"That was an execution, silly!" Monobear replied. "Thanks for speaking, by the way. The annoying sound of you voice reminded me of the new rule that I needed to put in. Expect it before night ends," Monobear told him.

"We should… head back to our rooms," Onslaught told everybody, his disgust for what he saw barely held back.

"Why? That was awesome!" Wildrider shouted as he turned to the bear. "You have one set up for me?" he asked.

"Of course, silly. I have one for everyone in case they commit a murder and get caught. What kind of bear would I be if I didn't?" the bear asked. "A bad one, that's what!"

"Wildrider, get help," Dead End told him as he walked to the elevator, wanting to rinse off the energon off him.

"So, that's it? We just head back to our room and pretend like nothing ever happened?" Bumblebee asked the room.

"It would appear so," Chromedome said. "Come on Rewind," he ordered, lightly shaking his shoulder. Rewind shook himself out of the dazed of seeing Soundwave die and went to the elevator, Chromedome in tow. Bumblebee stared at the two before following along.

Slowly, everyone drifted out of the room and into the elevator, leaving only three people left: Nightbeat, Skywarp, and Laserbeak. Nightbeat was watching Skywarp comfort the grieving Laserbeak.

"Hey, it's alright. He's in a better place now," Skywarp said, trying to comfort him. The minicon gave little beeping noises to Skywarp in reply. "Yes, I'm sure. Don't even say that."

"Do you need help?" Nightbeat asked.

"Uh, oh, nah, I'm fine. Hey, thanks for proving me innocent today," Skywarp told him as he continue petting Laserbeak.

"It the least I can do," Nightbeat replied.

Laserbeak gave angry beeps at him.

"Hey, watch your mouth!" Skywarp chastised.

Angry beeps.

"Yes, I know, but if he didn't, than we would all be dead. It was either him or us and their was nothing we could to prevent it," Skywrp told him.

Laaserbeak gave sad beeps as it it huddled close to himself, lonely without it's orginal owner.

"Hey, you know what I think would cheer you up?" Skywarp asked.

Inquisitive beeps.

"You being the Ultimate Pet!" Skywarp cheered. Laserbeak looked at him blankly. "Is that okay?" he asked.

Laserbeak stood still for a moment before giving a single beep.

"Excellent! Welcome to the group!"

**Laserbeak**

**Ultimate Pet**

**Formally the pet of Soundwave, the oddly shaped minicon is one of the smallest in the Decepticon Army but follows all of its orders to the letter with ruthless efficiency. It is also pretty cute when it wants to be. **

"Are you both happy?" Nightbeat asked.

"Yep!"

"Alright, let's get out of here," Nightbeat said as he headed to the elevator.

"Don't have to tell us twice," Skywarp replied as Laserbeak connected to his chest and they both walked out of there and to the elevator. Blurr started the elevator, closing the door and leading them back to the first floor.

And Soundwave's carcass laid hanging on the wall.

Nightbeat stepped out of his room, having washed Soundwave's energon off of his body. It was nearing eleven as he walked through the halls, planning on heading to the lunchroom to snag a cube of energon before recharging the night. He reached the staircase when he heard a ruckus upstairs.

"Hound has something to show us." Blurr.

"What?" Ratchet.

"It's has something to do with those videos and Earth."

"What do you mean?"

"Come find out for yourself."

Intrigue, Nightbeat follow the two up the stairs as they enter the A/v room where the three previously mentioned, as well as Perceptor, the Combaticons, Beachcomber, Nautilator, Rewind, Chromedome, and Bludgeon. They were all about to watch something on the big screen.

"What's going on?" Nightbeat asked.

"Nightbeat, sit down and watch and your questions will be answered," Hound said as he started the video. Nightbeat quickly took a seat and watched what came up on the screen.

The video started and they were greeted with five square videos of things going on at Earth. They were labeled New York, Paris, Giza, Tokyo, and random, beautiful plain. "Aw, look at these wonderful visas on Earth," Monobear said, and they all had to agreed that the places looked god enough. All of the them had plenty of people in them, a family taking children to looked at the Statue of Liberty, a small crowd gazing at the top of the Eiffel tower, tourist looking at the Great Sphinx in Egypt, a busy commune of people going on with life in Tokyo, and lovers taking pictures on the plain, looking like a wonderful summer. Suddenly, static took up all the screens and the videos started again, but each one looked drastically different.

The monuments in the first three videos were all defile, instead showing Monobear on the faces of the Sphinx and the Statue of Liberty, and the head of Monobear taking of the top of the Eiffel Tower. The surroundings of the three were bathe in flame, leaving little unblemished. Tokyo was burning to the ground, rioters in Monobear masks destroying everything around them. The random, beautiful plain was a desolate wasteland, everything charred to a hellish black. "Oh no, what happen to Earth! If Hounds wants to find out, he need to graduate," Monokuma said, as the screen fades to black.

The impact of the footage hit Nightbeat hard as he recalled what Soundwave told him earlier.

"_And for the rest of you, just one more thing. The videos that we all saw? __**They are all real**__."_

But, if what he said was true, than what Primus's name happened to Earth.

"What… was that?" Beachcomber asked.

"That… was real?" Rewind asked.

"Yes," Hound said. "Wherever's happening here, it's happening on a much larger scale on Earth," Hound told them.

"But, how's that possible?" Blast Off.

"I don't know. There is just one thing that bothers me," Hound told them. "I was on earth **two weeks ago**."

"But it's impossible for something like this to affect the Earth in that amount of time," Ratchet said.

"I know, but Soundwave said it was true and considering he was heading to the gallows, I see no reason for him to lie."

"We have to find more information about this," Onslaught said. "We need to search the areas thoroughly tomorrow morning for any new information about this."

"That sounds reasonable," Nightbeat agreed.

"Good. I said we adjourned for the night," he told them. Everyone agreed with his suggestion, what they saw on the footage disturbing them greatly. Nightbeat was the first out and headed quickly to his room, energon no longer on his mind. He opened his room and took laid on his recharge slab and went to sleep, with one thought on his mind.

_What was going on at Earth?_

**End of Chapter 1**

**Teachers Alive: 28**


	15. Chapter 2: New World of Information

**Day 5**

"This is an announcement. It is now 7 am. Have a wonderful day."

Bludgeon awoken to the sound of the annoying high pitch voice of the bear. He gave a grunt as he blitzed out of his room and down the steps. He would be lying if e said that the events of the previous day had affected him. Before, he thought about participating in the games, but the risk of doing that proven to be too much risk. Soundwave's crime was complex and he was caught and executed. It was likely he would be caught as well and executed. It was best for him to stay back, observe the others, and help when he needed to. He didn't cooperate much with people, but this was an exception. He just needed to figure out which ones to actually trust.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and headed into the lunchroom. He quickly grabbed a cube and left the room. Of course, he wanted to isolate himself from the others for a little while as well. Everyone was bound to be on edge today. He reached the top of the stairs and headed for his room, but was stopped by a peculiar sight.

The door which blocked the way to a new section of the building was opened.

Bludgeon was confuse by this until he remember one of the rules.

4. Available areas of the academy may be explored without limitations. More areas will be explored as time goes on.

The execution must've prompted the bear to open it. Bludgeon glared at it before walking towards it. He might as well take the risk. He entered what appeared to be a walkway. Right next to him, he saw stairs that led up and down. He looked down to see the ground that looked very similar to his. He looked up to see three similar walkway on top, matching the amount of floors on the building. His observation complete, he head down the walkway, which curved slightly to the right at a 45 degree angle. He reached the end to see the set of stairs again and an open door. Slowly, Bludgeon entered the room.

It didn't take long to figure out what the room was. It was a large, well-built room with a blue color scheme to it. There was shelves everywhere that contained datapads with a variety of different information on them. The outer sections above the first floor all had shelves on them with a catwalk at four points leading to the center where a stairwell was. In the center on the first floor were a bunch of desks where people could sit at.

The room was a library.

Bludgeon gazed at the massive amount of information around him. He knew that the attempts to preserve Cybertronan texts were mostly successful, but he didn't know they were this good. He thought for sure that eons of war would render most texts destroyed and no longer able to be read. Obviously, he underestimated them.

And it didn't take long for him to realize he wasn't the only one there. At one of the desks, he could see Dead End reading something, more than likely poetry about death of some sort, and Wildrider looking and throwing away datapads. Over in the shelves near him was Beachcomber, perusing the shelves a bit. The first ones didn't surprised him as they have always been early risers, but the second one did. He had never seen that one risen up this early before. He was suspicious of this until he noticed his movements. Slow, sluggish, not much energy. It was then that Bludgeon realize that he didn't wake up early, _he didn't sleep at all_. He must've been one of the more heavily effected of the people here. If his information about him was correct, he was pacifistic by nature and abhor violence, but still participated in the war as a soldier. Bludgeon wondered how he was this heavily affected when he participated in that conflict.

"So this is what the doors opened," he heard behind him, surprising him. He reached around for his sword, before realizing that his sword was still missing, and turned around to meet his intruder, Jazz.

"You are a quiet one," Bludgeon said, glaring at him.

"Yeah, well, I'm head of espionage for a reason," Jazz reminded him as he looked around the area. "This place is pretty nifty."

"This place is well-stocked with information," Bludgeon agreed, heading down the catwalk with Jazz following right behind him. "Perhaps we could use the information granted to us here to find out who exactly locked us in this prison."

"My thoughts exactly," Jazz said, as they headed down the catwalk. The second they reached the first floor, Bludgeon was greeted by a datapad smacking him in the face from Wildrider as he haphazardly tossed them around.

"Would you stop you careless tossing of information?" Bludgeon asked. Wildrider looked over at the dangerous being before complying with a grunt. He picked up a random datapad from ground and went over to take a seat.

"I see you two have finally discover the new area," Dead End greeted the two as he continue to read his datapad.

"Yeah, the place is pretty nice," Jazz complimented.

"You know they have human reading material here as well," Dead End told them.

"They do?" Jazz asked.

"Yeah, I found them," Beachcomber said as he brought some more datapads with him. "We're trying to look for more information about what happened to Earth."

"That's why the manic one was throwing datapads left and right. He was looking for more information on the current situations."

"Yes, correct. Thank you Beachcomber for informing me about that, by the way," he thanked the geologist.

"No problem," he said, taking a seat and slumping down in it.

"What is wrong with you," Bludgeon asked him.

"I didn't sleep much last night," Beachcomber confessed.

"Yes, why is that?" Dead End asked.

"You don't have to answer that if you don't want to," Jazz told him, indicating to the others that he already know.

"Nah, that's alright," Beachcomber said, prepping himself to explain. "You see, I have post-traumatic stress disorder," Beachcomber told them. "If I see any violent scenes, I run the risk of breaking down. I was freaking out a lot when I saw Shockwave get executed and those scenes from Earth. I spent most of the night calming myself down," Beachcomber explained.

"How did that happen?" Bludgeon asked.

"Shockwave, that fragger," Beachcomber cursed. "Look, I didn't said anything yesterday out of respect for the dead, but I'm happy he died. That dude messed me up and I'm glad karma finally got around to finishing him off. He had it coming."

"Maybe," Jazz agreed, "but he was still critical in rebuilding Cybertron. Without him, we've probably been set back a couple of years," Jazz told him.

"Soundwave was also useful in the whole directing of resources scrap he always do," Wildrider mentioned. "He knew had to get stuff from places to place the best out of anyone."

"I'm surprised you know that," Dead End mentioned.

"Hey, I pay attention sometimes," Wildrider remind him. "It just that most of the time, it comes across as blah, blah, blah. It gets so annoying that I have no choice but to pay attention to what you say to keep me entertain."

"Oh no, _listening_. How terrible," Dead End snarked from beside him.

"I know, right?" Wildrider ignorantly agreed. Dead End glared at his comrade for a split second before heading back to his source material.

"Anyway, back to current affairs," Dead End said, trying to get back on track, "we've been looking at Earth sources to find out what happen over there, but so far, we've come up with nothing."

"It's kind of a bummer," Beachcomber mentioned. "You think a world-wide catastrophe would have more news behind it."

"How about any news about what happen outside?" Bludgeon asked.

"I doubt we'd find anything about it," Jazz said. "What happen outside could only happen within the past couple of days and I doubt the library is that updated," Jazz explained.

"Do you think what's happening in here could have any connection with what going on outside?" Beachcomber asked.

"I doubt it, but it's a possibility," Dead End agreed. "The fact that both events are happening at the same time could mean something."

"First rule of espionage: there are no coincidences," Jazz told him. "They have to be connected somehow."

"Probably, but how?" Dead End asked. "Why do something like these?"

"According to the bear, he says his goals are to cause despair by getting us to kill each other, but there has to be an ulterior motive behind it," Bludgeon mentioned.

"Wait, remember what we said about Shockwave and Soundwave? We said that reconstruction efforts would take longer without them. What if that was there plan?"

"Then why is Wildrider here?" Dead End asked, glaring at the manic. "Reconstruction efforts would probably be quicker if he wasn't around."

"Eh, he might be right about that," Wildrider conceded. "I'm not much help at building things."

"Yeah, that's a point, but still. There are many people here critical to the reconstruction efforts. You think they target some of us for that?"

"You know, if his goal was to cause despair, I would make sense. Less people to help the reconstruction effort would take longer and may cause despair."

"If that's correct, than why didn't they target more of us?"

"Maybe they kidnapped some of them to lessen suspicion?" Beachcomber said. "If everyone was a member of the reconstruction, it would seem very suspicious so they get others that have no involvement to decrease initial suspicion."

"That… makes sense," Jazz agreed. "If there was more people here connected to the reconstruction project, we probably would've assume something was up and not come at all."

"Which means this was nothing but a trap from the very beginning," Bludgeon finished.

"More than likely," Dead End agreed.

"We should head to the lunchroom. Everybody's probably up and wondering where we are," Jazz mentioned. "We can tell them about the new information we found."

"Let's move."

* * *

The five of them entered the room at eight. When they entered, they saw that a couple of them were already standing and getting ready to go search for them, even though Swindle was telling them they were probably already searching the new area. The five quickly grabbed there cubes and took their place at the table, noticing the gaps where Shockwave and Soundwave usually sit, isolating Hound, Vortex, and Nightbeat by themselves. Immediately, the group was asking questions and they explained to them what they had found and their hypothesis for being there,

"Wow, that's a lot to take in," Nautilator said.

"How did you already know about the new area, Swindle?" Dead End asked.

"I woke up early, at about five, and went out to see the open door. I just took a cursory look before grabbing a couple books on finance and heading back to my room," Swindle told them.

"I guess that explanation is acceptable."

"So, back to the point, the main reason why we're here is to stymie reconstruction efforts?" Onslaught asked.

"We think that is just a step they are making for their true purpose, which is to cause despair," Jazz told them.

"Despair?"

"Yeah, it's probably some underground terrorist group who decided to jump up into the big leagues."

"And the headmaster is more than likely one of the terrorist involved in this operation," Nightbeat answered.

"More than likely," Jazz answered. "When we get out, we have to try our hardest and stop them before they grow any bigger."

"They are probably also the ones involved with what's going on outside," Beachcomber added. "At the very least, they're involved."

"Alright, is there anything else you can tell us?" Mirage asked.

"Not that I can think of," Jazz said.

"Alright, than I say we end breakfast and searched the library thoroughly," Mirage told them. "Any objections?" Not a single person said anything. "Alright, let's go."

The next three hours was spent scouring the impressively sized library for information. At the end of it, they all convene in the center.

"So, anybody find anything?" Blast Off asked the group.

Everybody answered with a negative

"Scrap, let's all head to lunch and planned the next search better."

An hour later, they were all done, but came up with a plan to search in pairs in order to not miss anything. At that moment Bludgeon and Beachcomber were searching one side of the fourth floor together. It was mostly quiet between the two as they searched the area. Finally, one of the, spoke up.

"So, Bludgeon, why are you here?" Beachcomber asked.

"Why do you ask that?" Bludgeon questioned, not liking where this was going.

"Well, you were the trusted bodyguard for Jhiaxus until his death and you dropped off the map, never to be seen again until you showed up here. Seriously, no one should be able to keep off the grid for that long."

Bludgeon thought this through before replying. "They found me."

"Huh?"

"I was holed up inside a newly active volcano in-between Ibex and Helex. I felled asleep one day and saw a message lying next to me. They left no traces. I had to know how they found me so I came here," Bludgeon explained. "If they could find me, than the Autobots could as well."

"A take no chances kind of person?" Beachcomber asked.

"Correct."

"Ah," Beachcomber said, before he started up again "how did Jhiaxus die? I wasn't there when he was finished off. I was trapped inside Shockwave's lab at the time," Beachcomber asked.

"That… is a bit of a personal question," Bludgeon told him.

"I told you I was tortured and have PTSD. I'm sure you can handle it," Beachcomber told him.

"Emph," Bludgeon grunted, "fine. He was developing annihilation generators in a space generators," Bludgeon told him.

"Annihilation generators? Holy scrap!" Beachcomber exclaimed.

"Yes, I know. Anyway, the Autobots attacked and cause heavy damage to one of the generators, causing a meltdown. Within minutes, the place would blow up. The Autobots escape through the space bridge. We headed to the escape pods when an explosion separated us. I reached one, but Jhiaxus didn't," Bludgeon explained. "He was turned into particles while I crashed into the wasteland Cybertron."

"Wow, that's pretty bad."

"Yes, it was."

"Did they found a body?"

"No and for good reason. His body was crushed into particles, like I said before. It would be impossible to find anything from his corpse."

"Yesh, talk about going out with a bang."

"Quite."

"Oh, did you see the new rules?"

"New rules?"

"Yeah, look," Beachcomber said as he got his electroID out and went to the rules. "Look," he said, showing it to him.

11. All teachers MUST vote in the trial. Failure to do so will result in punishment for the individuals who didn't vote.

12. No one is allow to lend their electoID's out to anyone.

13. More rules will be added when necessary.

"I understand why he included the first one, but the second?"

"Something tells me we'll find out about the meaning for the rule soon."

* * *

"Found anything," Nightbeat asked of Mirage.

"I'm looking at Earth's files on planetary cataclysms, but I'm find nothing," Mirage told him.

"Ah, shame."

"Hey, Nightbeat?" Mirage asked.

"What?"

"Thanks for solving the case," Mirage thanked.

"It's what I do. They don't call me the Ultimate Detective for nothing."

"Eh, that's true." A few minutes of Science.

"Hey, Nightbeat?"

"Hmph?"

"I don't know about this being a trap from the start," Mirage told him.

"Oh? And why is that?" Nightbeat asked.

"Because you're here," Mirage told him.

"Come again?" Nightbeat asked, confused.

"I mean, if they were going to do this whole murder mystery thing amongst all of you, why did they invite you?" Nightbeat pondered that.

"Maybe to make things fairer," he theorize.

"No, terrorist wouldn't do that. They would want to make sure that we have the highest percentage of failure as they possibly can," Mirage explained.

"What are you getting at?"

"Two suggestions. Both of them aren't pretty."

"Worse first."

"They expect you to commit the perfect murder," Mirage explained.

"What?!" Nightbeat said, shocked, nearly dropping his datapad.

"Look, you're the Ultimate Detective. That means you know everything about leaving evidence. You wouldn't leave anything for us to find," Mirage told him. "What if that was your entire reason to being here. To win this," Mirage told him.

"That is a-" He wanted to say ridiculous idea, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it makes. Who else could commit a better plan murder than him? No one, that's who. "Other suggestion?" Nightbeat asked.

"That it was hastily planned," Mirage told him. "The Headmaster would be innocent in this scenario, but what if the terrorist dispose of him and created the game we're in?" Mirage told him.

"No, that can't be it. Something like this would take several weeks to prep for. To do it simply on a whim is unlikely."

"Well then, I see no other reason to have you here," Mirage told him. "They expect to be the one that succeeds. Best try your hardest to disappoint them."

* * *

"You would think they would have more than this," Swindle complained to Brawl as he looked over the latest gossip about celebrities on Earth. "I could really care less about the type of clothes a celebrity wears, especially sense they mostly follow the same pattern. They wear a custom article of clothing from some swanky custom brand. It's almost sad how they all follow the same trend."

"I don't think gossiping about the gossip on celebrities is very productive," Brawl told him, looking through some more articles.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll continue to look- oh! Now this is interesting. I think I may have found our first real lead," Swindle told him.

"Oh?" Brawl said as he came to look. "What is it? Did a celebrity set off a nuke?"

"Nah, paparazzi would be on them in a heartbeat. Look at this headline," he ordered, turning his datapad over to show him a head.

"Opening of new school," Brawl read. "I don't see how this relates to a global riot on Earth."

"Because, it takes place at the prestigious, one-of-a-kind Hope's Peak Academy."

"Say what?!" Brawl exclaimed as he read through this. "There's one on Earth too?"

"Yep, I decided to check the backlogs to real late back and check local news in popular cities. Here you have the school, right in the 1930's."

"A few years after we made contact with the humans and the war ended."

"Uh-huh. According to this, some Cybertronians may have been involved in the construction of it," Swindle told him.

"Alright, this is pretty good, but how do we know this Hope's Peak is related to ours?"

"Read the way to gain admittance into it," Swindle told him.

"'In order to gain admittance into the school, Students must have good grades and… be exceptional in a certain field above all else,'" Brawl stretch the last part out as he realized that the schools had to be related now.

"See what I'm getting at now?" Swindle asked him.

"Yes, I do," Brawl muttered. "They have to be related with each other. There is no other way to describe why they have the same name and the same way of getting in. But the question is still how?"

"That's going to take a lot more time," Swindle answered. "Onslaught is going to be on our spinal struts for this."

"No kidding. "

After a few more hours of searching, the group reconvene and headed back to the lunchroom at 9:00 P.M. They quickly exchange what they found. Most of the information had been useless until they got down to Brawl and Swindle, who quickly disclose the information about the other Hope's Peak academy over on Earth.

"That's a good fine," Onslaught praised the two. "We finally got a lead about this place."

"All in a day's work," Swindle said with a nod from Brawl.

"So, what exactly does this mean?" Smokescreen asked. "Why is there another Hope's Peak Academy here on Cybertron?"

"And who commissioned it?" Counterpunch asked them.

"We'll have to continue this tomorrow," Onslaught told them.

"Sounds reasonable," Jazz agreed.

"Combaticons," he commanded. Each one raise their head in interest. "We're getting up at six tomorrow." Immediately, this was meant with groans of disapproval from most of them.

"Onslaught, I doubt waking up early is going to change how our search results go," Vortex told him.

"Yeah, boss. This is completely unneeded."

"Agree," Blast Off shot off.

"Too bad, we're doing it anyway. Most of you have been slacking off and I need to make sure we're all fit when the time comes to take revenge on the bear."

"Speaking of the bear, where is he? I haven't seen him all day," Blurr asked.

"Must be too busy planning to deal with us," Onslaught told them. "We should take this time to investigate as much as we can!"

"He has a point," Chromedome agreed. "He's obviously working out the next motive so we should take this time to investigate as much as we can."

"Well then, since it's almost ten, we should all go to sleep," Onslaught told them "Especially you, Beachcomber. You don't look good."

Beachcomber, who was in the middle the middle of falling asleep, snap his head up when he was called. "Oh, thanks dude. I really need it."

"You should probably sleep in longer than usual," Onslaught ordered. "Now then, meeting adjourned."


	16. Chapter 2: Everything's Fine

**Day 6**

Skywarp woke up to the feeling of something nipping at his throat cords. He onlined his optics to the sight of Laserbeak lightly nipping them, a sign telling him to 'get the frag up!' Skywarp gave a groaned as he lightly brushed him aside and stand up. "What time is it?" Skywarp asked as he turned his electroID on to see the rime. "6:30? Ugh," Skywarp groaned as he lay back in the bed. "Screw you, birdie." Laserbeak did take it lightly as he engaged in picking at his leg cables hard. "Ow! Okay, I'm getting up. I'm getting up!" Skywarp told him as he got back up and off the bed. "Happy?" Skywarp asked. Laserbeak responded by continuing to nip as his leg. Skywarp gave aquick yelp and sprinted out of the room with Laserbeak following in tow. Skywarp dashed through the tunnel, Laserbeak keeping up nicely. Skywarp ran into the library…

…and accidently throw himself over the tall balcony.

"Ah!" Skywarp screamed as he felled into the waiting arms of Brawl. Skywarp gave a few quick inhales before turning to his rescuer. "My here!" Skywarp said with an over exaggerated sigh. Brawl promptly respond by letting go of him. "Ouch," Skywarp squeaked out as he rubbed his aft. "Was that really necessary?"

"for an idiot like you, maybe. How did you even accidently fall over the railing?" Brawl asked as he looked up. "Those things are tall."

"Laserbeak was nipping at my legs, causing me to jump a little bit. That boost must've given me a tiny boost."

"Yeah, that might be enough. It's physically impossible for a shorty to accidently fall over it, isn't that right Swindle!" he yelled up to the floor above him. Swindle glared through the holes in the fence before responding.

"Screw you!" he replied, before heading back to his duty.

"Man, he's been acting odd today," Brawl told him. "He seems more agitated than usual, as well as more paranoid."

"Isn't that normal for the circumstance that we're in?" Skywarp asked.

"No, he usually keeps his cool in situations. All of us are really good at keeping our cool."

"Huh, anybody else acting strange?" Skywarp asked as Laserbeak floated on down on his shoulders.

"Vortex has been acting a little more restrain lately. Doesn't communicate much," Brawl told him as he looked at the next datapad. "Hey, you want to help? Look through some of the pads over there," he said shrugging his head over to a shelf.

"Eh, I guess I got nothing better to do, since _someone_ woke me up early today," he said, glaring at the minicon on his shoulder. Skywarp began sifting through the files on hand for the next fifteen minutes before talking to Brawl again. "Hey, how come you guys can't just turn into Bruticus and break us out of here?" Skywarp asked.

"Someone took out Onslaught's T-cog while we were knocked out. You've seen the scar, right? It's on the lower left side of his body where the T-cog usually is for everybody," Brawl told him. "He's the center of the gestalt, so we can't do anything without a working T-cog for him and there was no T-cogs in the infirmaries, so we can't do anything."

"Oh, yeah. Blast Off told me that the first day when we were here," Skywarp remembered. "These guys are very careful.

"Very," Brawl agreed. "The rest of us can still change into out alt. modes, but our weapons system has been sabotage, meaning we can't use them."

"Dang," Skywarp dragged it out. "They really made sure we couldn't do anything to get out."

"No kidding," Brawl agreed.

* * *

15 minutes later, Monobear gave a morning announcement and the library brighten with the rest of the lights back on. The Combaticons and Skywarp decided to head back to the lunchroom to get some energon. They were one of the firsts there, as only the two Stunticons, Blurr and Ratchet beat them there. The six of them grabbed a cube and took a seat in there respectful places. Jazz followed closed behind them as well as Bludgeon.

"What up?" Jazz asked as he took a seat next to Brawl.

"Just did some more investigating," Onslaught told him.

"And found scrap all," Swindle complained.

"Swindle, calm down," Onslaught ordered him. Swindle derisively glanced at him before taking another drink from his cube. "Vortex, what did you find?" Onslaught asked.

"Uh, nothing sir," Vortex told him nervously, which strike everybody at the table as odd.

"Okay, Blast Off?" Onslaught asked.

"If I had found something, you would've known already," Blast Off replied coolly.

"And Brawl?"

"Nothing, typical," Brawl grumbled.

"Alright, we'll try again once everybody gets up and has some energon," Onslaught told them.

"That is fine with me," Bludgeon told him as he finished his cube. "I think I'll head over there now and get a head start," he told them as he got up and headed out of the room.

"I'll come with you," Blurr agreed, heading out with him.

"Hmm, well, if anybody would like to leave early, go ahead," Onslaught ordered. Immediately, Swindle got up and headed out of the room. After some hesitation, Vortex got up as well, and headed out of the room.

"What is up with them?" Blast Off asked as soon as they left. "They've been acting a little differently since this morning."

"What do you mean?" Ratchet asked the sniper.

"Ah, I forgot. You weren't there. Swindle and Vortex have been acting strange since this morning. Swindle is acting a bit more paranoid and Vortex is a lot more, how should I put it… subdue," Blast Off told him. "It's certainly odd, because they were acting just like they always were earlier today."

"How odd. Maybe we can find something out today," Dead End assure him.

"I sincerely doubt it."

"Well, cynicism isn't going to get you anywhere." That caused some strange looks from the table as they realize what Dead End just said when they heard a shout from the hallway.

"What the frag was that for!" a voiced rang out. The group at the table looked at each other before getting out of their seats to figure out what was wrong. Outside in the hallway, they could Knock Out was all over Smokescreen, laying into him.

"Come on, is that all you got?" Knock Out asked with a certain sense of sadism in his voice. Before he could continue with his taunting, Onslaught was on him, jumping and holding him onto the ground.

"Calm down," Onslaught ordered as Knock Out realized what happened.

"Hey, let me go," Knock Out asked. "You didn't see his face. It deserve to have that happen to him."

"Dammit, take him to the infirmary. I'll see if I can drug him down," Ratchet yelled as he ran past the two and past the corner.

"Ah!" Beachcomber yelled as Ratchet tripped over him. Ratchet fell with a grunt on top of the geologist. Ratchet gave a groan right before rolling off of the him. "Ow," Beachcomber muttered.

"Sorry, Beachcomber. Didn't see you there," Ratchet explained in grunts.

"That's fine, man. No problem," Beachcomber forgave him.

"What were you doing?" Ratchet asked as he got back on his knees.

"Oh, I was watching the fight," Beachcomber explained. Ratchet gave a slight nod before realizing there was something wrong with that statement.

"Wait a minute, you-"

"Ratchet, get back up and help me subdue him!" Onslaught yelled as he ran past him. Ratchet gave a silent curse as he got back up and followed Onslaught to the infirmary, leaving Beachcomber behind. The two ran through the halls before arriving at the infirmary.

"Oh, h-hey!" Nautilator greeted them as they entered, a strong pair of scissors in his hands, getting ready to cut through the plastic on his arms. "Whoa! What's going on with Knock Out?" Nautilator asked.

"I'll show you if you help me get free," Knock Out told him as he struggled against the strong hands holding him still. Ratchet ignored the conversation and quickly went to get sedative. He went backed to Knock Out and quickly injected him with it. Knock Out flinched and struggle for a few seconds before he went limped in Onslaught's arms.

"Alright, Knock Out's secured," Ratchet muttered to himself. "Let's strapped him down to the bed so that he doesn't hurt anyone when he gets up," Ratchet ordered as he got some wire to bind the doctor. Onslaught laid him on the medical table and Ratchet tied it around him, securing it firmly. At that time, the others who was in the cafeteria came in with a bleeding from the mouth Smokescreen in tow.

"What's wrong with him?" Dead End asked.

"I don't know. Insanity?" Ratchet theorized.

"See, it's just like I told you!" Wildrider bragged to Dead End.

"People don't go insane overnight," Brawl said.

"May he's acting strangely for the same reason Vortex and Swindle are," Onslaught guessed.

"Dead End, too," Blast Off noticed.

"What, why?" Dead End asked.

"You told him to stop being cynical," Skywarp told him. Dead End blinked at them before he realized what they meant.

"Your point being?" Dead End argued.

"Holy scrap, something is wrong with him!" Wildrider yelled in surprise.

"Might as well add Beachcomber to the list," Ratchet explained.

"What, why?" Onslaught asked. "He looked fine to me."

"He said he was there to watch Knock Out and Smokescreen fight."

"Wait, doesn't he have PTSD? Why would he want to see that," Dead End asked.

"Exactly my point. He shouldn't even want to see it. Why did he do that?"

"Well, should we see how everybody else is doing?" Dead End asked. "I hate to imagine it, but some more of them could be acting strange."

"Worth a look," Ratchet agreed. "I'll stay here with Knock Out to make sure everything with him is alright."

"Good. Everyone, head out!" Onslaught ordered. Everyone went out, except for Smokescreen and Nautilator, the former still bleeding.

"Right, before I head out, can you make sure this isn't any worse than a few cuts?" Smokescreen asked.

"Yeah, we'll just have to do it standing up," Ratchet agreed. He turned to Nautilator, about to cut opened the plastic. "Nautilator?" Ratchet asked

"Yes?"

"Don't do anything stupid. I'll get to you in a second. I'm not risking you cutting up your tubes."

* * *

"Right, Chromedome and Rewind. I'm sure they are doing fine," Dead End confidently said. Wildrider stared at his comrade.

"Dude, we seriously need to fix what's wrong with you."

"What's wrong with me?" Dead End asked.

Before Wildrider could try explaining, the door opened to Chromedome, a large amount of data discs in his hands. "And we need to get rid of these!" he shouted, tossing them out.

"Oh, is that it!" Rewind shouted from across the room.

"Oh, no, we're not even halfway through!" Chromedome turned back and glared at him. "I'm going to be laying down some rules."

"Oh, yeah? What. you miserable being!" Rewind questioned, angered behind every word he said.

"Uh, are you guys-" Wildrider began.

"Shut it! This is personal matters!" Chromedome shouted as he closed the door.

"Rewind and Chromedome: definitely infected," Wildrider grumbled. "Those two always act like overbearing sweet-sparks to each other. I've never seen them fight before."

"I know. It is disturbing," Dead End agreed.

"Hey," a voiced said from behind them. "What's going on with Chromedome and Rewind?"

The two Stunticons turned to see Beachcomber staring at them. He looked pretty happy, standing still with his shoulders lax.

"Uh, they are having a spout," Dead End explained.

"Man, I wish Soundwave was still alive. I could use his cameras to sneak in on that," Beachcomber grumbled. The two Stunticons stared at each other.

"He's crazy," Wildrider mouthed to Dead End.

"Hey, are these Rewind's videos?" Beachcomber asked. The two glared at eacg other.

"Yes,,," Dead End hesitated.

"Oh, alright. You think Rewind would mind if I took them off his hands?" Beachcomber asked.

"Uh, at the moment? Unlikely," Dead End answered.

"Oh, okay," Beachcomber said as he scooped them up. "If you excuse me, I think I'll head on up to the A/V room and watched these. I think there might be some good snuff footage on here," Beachcomber said as he headed out to the staircase going up.

"Okay, this has gotten really weird," Wildrider muttered.

"Very," Dead End agreed.

* * *

Onslaught ranged the door to Hound's room. He and Skywarp decided to pair up for this as he was pretty sure he could tolerate Skywarp.

"And then, Starscream was all like 'Blah, blah, blah,' and Thundercracker is going 'Blah, blah, bla-blah?' and Hook finished it off with…"

He was wrong.

Finally, after an agonizing minute, the door opened with Hound, looking very sane.

"Ah, Hound, good to see you. You see, some people have been acting very… peculiar as of late. I am happy to see that you look very well," Onslaught told him.

"Why would I not be. What's going on?" Hound asked.

"We'll tell you later after we're done examining everybody else," Onslaught told him.

"Examining?" Hound asked. "Things are that bad?"

"Yes, you see-" at that point, Onslaught noticed something very weird behind Hound. A trash can was on fire. "Uh, you trash can is on fire," Onslaught pointed out.

"You just noticed that?" Skywarp asked.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong. I just… needed to start a fire, okay. Nothing wrong with that," Hound told them. The seeker and the Combaticons glanced at each other. "Anyway, have fun with whatever," Hound told them as he closed the door.

"Crazy," Skywarp told Onslaught.

"Unfortunate."

* * *

Blast Off and Brawl stood outside Perceptor's door and rang the bell. The rang was answered almost immediately.

"Ah, Brawl and Blast Off. Why did you decided to ring my room today?" Perceptor asked.

"Some people have been acting strange. We came to check up on you," Brawl told him.

"Strange? Do tell," Perceptor asked, interested.

"Well, people have been acting opposite of how they usually act," Blast Off started off. "Vortex is more subdue, Knock Out is more violent, ect. You understand," Blast off finished.

"It's been confusing us since it's started happening."

"Huh, guess I'd better start investigating this," Perceptor said to himself. "I'll head to the cafeteria real quick and then start examining them."

"Fine with us," Brawl agreed. Perceptor stepped past them and headed for the stairs. "Huh, that was easy," Brawl noticed.

"Yes, quite."

* * *

"Alright. Counterpunch. This should be good," Skywarp said as he pressed the bell.

"Yes, very," Onslaught muttered.

The door opened to Counterpunch glaring at the two.

"Hey, Counter-" Skywarp started.

"Shut up and leave me alone," Counterpunch harshly ordered followed by him slamming the door in their faces.

"He's normal."

"Very."

* * *

"What up?" Jazz answered cheerily as he opened the door to Blast Off and Brawl.

"People are acting strangely and we were wondering if you were normal," Blast Off told him.

"What? Uh, I'm normal. Still following my normal routine," Jazz told them.

"Then our conversation is done," Blast Off told him as he grabbed the door and closed it.

"What was that for?" Brawl asked.

"He's useless. We were done with him. Come, on to the next person."

* * *

"Alright, Nightbeat," Dead End chuckled. "I doubt anything's wrong with him."

"Deady, stop it," Wildrider ordered. The door opened quickly to see Nightbeat glaring at the two. "Hey, what up?" Nightbeat stared at the two before he went backed in to retrieve and datapad and wrote some stuffed in. He went back and showed it to them.

"You're voice modulator is experiencing problems?" Dead End asked.

"Yarp," Nightbeat answered before realizing what he just said and slapped himself in the face.

"Oh, I know that," Wildrider said. The two glared at him.

"What?" Dead End asked.

"He's speaking in Idiot, which I am extremely fluent in," Wildrider told him.

"That sounds riveting," Dead End replied happily. "Thanks for your assistance Nightbeat. We'll be on our way," Dead End told him as he and Wildrider walked away.

"Ove ette fige thi ot," Nightbeat told them as he closed the door.

* * *

"Yes, Onslaught and… Skywarp," Bumblebee growled that last part out upon the sight of him.

"Hey, moron. How are you today? Feeling a bit… antsy?" Skywarp teased which caused Bumblebee to ball up his hands into fists.

"I'm fine," Bumblebee relied as he calmed down. "I was about to head down to the cafeteria to get some energon. Now, if you excuse me," Bumblebee told them as he walked past them and to the stairs.

"Don't noticed anything different with him," Onslaught told Skywarp.

"Yep," Skywarp said with a grin. "So many ways to tease him."

"Now, now, do you want Bumblebee to murder you?" Onslaught asked as he headed off.

"Hmm, good point," Skywarp agreed as he followed him.

* * *

The group investigated Scavenger, Mixmaster, Hoist, and Drift, but found nothing wrong with those individuals. After about an hour, all of those who weren't acting strangely met up in the library, where Bludgeon and Blurr wondered what was going on, while Swindle and Vortex kept to themselves. Onslaught asked if the two strange Combaticons could go have a break and the two followed the ordered quickly, leaving everybody else alone.

"Alright," Onslaught began. "What's wrong with everybody?"

"Swindle's a paranoid wreck," Blast Off began.

"Vortex is a lot more subdue than usual," Brawl agreed.

"Knock Out is prone to violence," Ratchet added.

"Chromedome and Rewind hate and fight each other," Wildrider added.

"Beachcomber is a vicarious violence voyeur," Dead End told them.

"We're pretty sure Hound is becoming a pyromanic," Skywarp told them.

"Nightbeat's speech is affected," Dead End told them.

"And, most disturbingly, Dead End is… _optimistic_," Wildrider said with a shudder, glaring at the happy cynic.

"Alright, so that's all of them, but what could be causing them," Mixmaster asked everyone.

"Could this be one of Monobear's motive?" Perceptor asked.

"It seems likely," Smokescreen agreed.

"But, how is he able to do this?" Scavenger asked.

"That's the million-shanix question, isn't it?" Jazz asked.

"I don't knw, but I will look into it," Perceptor told them. "Until then, we should let all the non-hostile abnormal ones help out."

"So, Dead End, Swindle, Vortex, Nightbeat, Hound, and Beachcomber, although the last two will have to be watch constantly in case they act up," Blurr told them.

"We should also send someone to break up the conflict between Chromedome and Rewind before one of them seriously hurt each other," Jazz told them.

"That would be sensible," Bludgeon agreed.

"Good idea. Which room are they in?" Smokescreen asked.

"I think they decided to stay in Rewind's room this time," Dead End told them.

"Than I'll go break it up."

"Oh, let me up," Wildrider volunteered.

"Uh, sure," Smokescreen hesistated as he went ahead and left the room with the manic.

"Okay, with that done, we got some time to kill before lunch begans. Let's look around around the library a bit more," Jazz told them.

_To be continued_


	17. Chapter 2: Days Become Years

"Alright, if I was information on the end of the world, where would I be?" Jazz asked himself as he looked through some more datapads on the first floor.

"In plain sight, unfortunately," Blast Off answered Jazz's question as he was investigating a shelf near him.

"You think they could at least catalogue the damn things so we can process all of this faster," Jazz complained.

"Do you think Monobear would make this easy for us?" Blast Off asked. "He probably did this on purpose to make it harder for us to figure out what has happen."

"What a troll," Jazz complained.

"Tell me about- hmm? What's this?" Blast Off asked as he examined the wall.

"What is it?" Jazz asked as he came over to see what it was.

"Is it me, or does this look a bit off?" Blast Off asked as he pointed to a patch of off-colored walk.

"Huh, yeah it does," Jazz agreed. "Let's touch it." He quickly pressed his hand against it, causing it to be pushed inward. "Huh, guess that worked," he noted as he waited for something to happen. A holographic screen came up on the wall. At the top were the word 'archives.' Below it were buttons that said 'open," 'instructions,' and 'times opened.' The two glanced at each other at their new find.

"It looks like the library is bigger than we once thought," Blast Off noticed.

"I wonder what secrets we'll find in it," Jazz questioned himself. "Might as well go ahead and open it."

"Before you do that, it would probably be best to click on instructions first," Blast Off recommended.

"Good idea. It's strange an archive would have instructions on how to use it," Jazz agreed as he clicked on it. A new image appeared on the screen that showed the instructions. It goes as followed:

_Welcome to the Archives, teacher. As I'm sure this is your first time, let me explain quickly how this works. You press 'open' and it will ask you to wave your electroID in front of it. Once you do that, you will gain entrance to the archives. Once the door opens, it will stay open for an hour before automatically closing. Once it closes, it will auto-lock for 12 hours before being able to open again, so plan accordingly. _

"We better gather everyone before we open it," Jazz said as he finished reading it.

"Quite. This is a very unusual way of operating something," Blast Off noticed.

"This guy has to be at least a little eccentric," Jazz said as he headed off to tell everyone.

* * *

Smokescreen and Wildrider arrived at Rewind's door and ranged the bell. "So, uh, how bad was it?" Smokescreen asked.

"Pretty bad," Wildrider murmured. "Be ready to use those fists of yours."

"No problem."

The door opened to Chromedome, bleeding slightly from a stabbed wound in his side and having a couple of dents in his armor. "You again," he growled to Wildrider.

"Uh, hey! What happen to you?" Wildrider asked as he glared at the hole.

"It's just a mesh wound. Rewind took a knife from the kitchen, stabbed me, and locked himself in the bathroom," Chromedome grumbled.

"Ah, sounds like a good idea," Smokescreen mentioned off-handily. "Chromedome, I think you two should stay in separate rooms for a while."

"What? Why?" Chromedome asked, surprised.

"Uh, well, you know, with the whole screaming at each other thing, the threats, and the violence, we think you two should have a little, uh… break," Wildrider explained.

"We're just hitting a rough patch, that's all. Besides, someone as weak, pathetic, and useless as him needs someone like me to watch over him and make sure he doesn't get killed," Chromedome explained.

"If you don't kill him first," Wildrider whispered to Smokescreen.

"What was that?" Chromedome asked.

"Nothing," Smokescreen said. "Look, how about this. We watch over Rewind while you stay in your room for a while," he suggested to the mnemosurgeon.

"And why should I trust you?" Chromedome asked.

"Because, we're a pair. Neither of us can do anything without the other one watching him," Smokescreen comforted. The tall 'Bot looked at the two before stepping out and gesturing for the two to enter.

"Fine. If you insist on taking care of the whining piece of scrap, go ahead. I'll be doing other things," Chromedome said darkly as he stepped away from the duo. The two glanced at teach other before taking a step in Rewind's room.

"So, once we open it, we got an hour to search through it before we're locked in," Ratchet summarized.

"Correct. Everybody ready?" Jazz asked. Everyone gave silent nods of confirmation. "Alright, let's get started." Jazz pressed the open button and waved his electroID over it.

"Welcome, Jazz," a voice greeted, before turning off and leaving them to wait for a minute before the wall came down to show a room. The group entered the brightly lit room. Inside, they could see more holographic screens on five floors with stair cases on the left and right end of the room. The catwalks connected in many ways, creating a nauseating effect on them. The room was bath in a light shade of red. A door was on the right hand side, leading somewhere else. On the other end of the room was a large holographic screen.

"Well now, this seems interested," Perceptor muttered to himself.

"Alright, we got an hour before we're locked in. Start searching," Jazz ordered, as he went to one of the screens. Everyone else quickly went to a different screen and began searching.

* * *

"Rewind?" Smokescreen asked as he knocked on the bathroom door.

"Whoever it is, stay the frag away from me! I got a knife and will hurt you!" Rewind threaten.

"Hey, calm down. It's just me and Smokescreen," Wildrider tried to calm him down.

"You're a fragging psychopath!"

"Guilty as charge," Wildrider agreed.

"You're not helping," Smokescreen chastised. "Hey, Rewind? Are you okay? Did Chromedome hurt you?"

"What do you think?" Wildrider whispered.

"What do you think?!" Rewind shouted behind the door.

"Okay, you have a point," Smokescreen muttered.

"Look, you want to help me?" Rewind asked.

"Yeah," Smokescreen answered.

"Then leave the room," rewind told them.

"What, but-"

"No buts. Leave!" Rewind yelled at them.

"Listen, Re-"

"Meh, whatever. Let's go," Wildrider told him as he left for the door. Smokescreen glared at the manic in shock before calming down and relenting. He followed Wildrider as he went for the door…

…and closed it loudly without leaving.

"Wha…" Smokescreen began.

"Shh," Wildrider hushed hi as he tip-toed over to the bathroom door. Smokescreen caught on to what he was doing and crept his way over to the door with Wildrider. The two waited in silence (which Smokescreen realized as very strange for Wildrider) for a couple of minutes. Smokescreen wondered if the door would opened when it slid opened a little bit. Wildrider leapt at the chance, sticking his hand through the opening and opened the rest of it. Rewind scooted back in shock as the manic came in. Smokescreen came in right behind him, getting a good look at him. He had some dents and was bleeding slightly from a wound on the side of his face. To go along with that, one of his optics looked damaged a bit. Aside from that, he was alright.

"What the- I thought you left!" Rewind wondered.

"Ha! Fat chance," Wildrider mocked. "Now then, will you let us help you?" he asked as he came closer.

"Get away!" rewind yelled at them, taking a swing and nicking Wildrider's neck cables.

"Ah, dammit!" he yelled out as he bled slightly from the wound, holding a hand at it. "That feels good," he grinned with a smile. "Okay, time to play rough," he growled out. He dived for Rewind, leaping on top of him and keeping his knife hand down on the ground with one of his hands.

"Rewind, Wildrider, calm down!" Smokescreen ordered as he came into the middle of the fray. He quickly took the energon-stained knife from Rewind's hand and pushed Wildrider off of him. "Now, to get to the point of why we're here, we came to make sure both you and Chromedome didn't tried to kill each other."

"Which, as we see, is a massive failure," Wildrider commented, picking at the wound in his neck.

"Yep, and- would you stop picking at that?" Smokescreen asked of Wildrider.

"Uh? Oh, okay," Wildrider agreed, putting his fingers to his side.

"Right, I said we get him to Ratchet. He's in the library, right?" Smokescreen wondered.

"Probably," Wildrider agreed.

"Alright, than let's for lunch to come around and then we can tell Ratchet about Rewind, Chromedome and yours' wound," Smokescreen said.

"Sounds good to me," Wildrider agreed as he went back to picking his neck wound.

"STOP THAT!"

* * *

"Huh, looks like all the terminals on this floor are part of the same system," Blast Off noticed.

"Huh, it looks like it," Brawl agreed.

"You think it's the same for all floors?" Jazz asked, getting off his terminal.

"I say they are all connected to each other, every one of them," Blast Off said. "I think it would be useless to check the other floors."

"Well, that's a good thing," Jazz agreed. "This will make investigating easier."

"Right, head back to yours and leave us alone," Blast Off ordered. Jazz glared at the sniper before heading back to his terminal. He logged in and looked at it. The archives were run by a search engine and you type in to get whatever you want. Jazz typed in 'Destruction of Earth' and got a metric shit-ton of files and reports, all of them conspiracy theories on how the Earth _would_ be destroyed, and none on how the Earth _was _destroyed. It was nothing to go on and five minutes before the door would lock itself, he got off and headed for the entrance. By that time, most of the people were done and getting off. Five minutes later, everyone was out and the door closed and locked behind them.

"Anybody found anything?" Jazz asked everyone. Everyone responded negatively. "Scrap."

* * *

At lunch today, everyone decided to come down, even the crazy ones, minus Knock Out, which kind of disturbed people. None more uncomfortable than Wildrider, who sat in between the feuding couple. Less than ten minutes later, Rewind got up and left for the second floor infirmary, telling Ratchet he would be waiting for him. Five minutes after that, Swindle left, glaring at everyone as he left. Throughout the whole thing, Hound wanted to set fire to his cube of energon. After an hour, lunch was done. Most people left, heading to the library. Wildrider and Ratchet headed to the infirmary on the second floor, Wildrider picking his neck wound the whole time.

The two entered the infirmary, with Rewind already there, waiting to be treated. "Hello, Rewind, how are you doing," Ratchet glared at the archivist, going to get some plastic to cover the wound on his face.

"Huh, alright, except for Chromedome, that slagger," Rewind replied as Ratchet got the plastic out and applied them to the wound.

"Alright, let that rest there for a while and use a buffer to get those dents out. Here," Ratchet said, opening a drawer and getting a buffer out, "use this."

"Hmph, thanks I guess, old scrap," Rewind said as he walked out.

"What was that?" Ratchet asked as he followed him.

"Whoa, calm down," Wildrider comforted, getting right in front of the medic. "That's not him talking, that's the, uh, whatever's going on with everybody," Wildrider said. Ratchet continued to glare at the archivist.

"Alright, you make a point," Ratchet agreed. "Time for your neck," he said, going to get a piece of plastic.

"Can you wait a couple of minutes? I want to pick on this for a little bit more," Wildrider asked, continuing to pick on his wound.

"NOW!"

* * *

"Ugh, back to square one," Nautilator complained as he went back to sifting through the library files. "You think we could add filters to those damn archives."

"That would be too easy," Bludgeon told him as he looked through the files. They had been at it for two hours now and hadn't found anything relevant to their goal yet.

"Unfortunately," the Seacon muttered, sliding a datapad back in its original place. "Who the heck decided to make a library this big?"

"Probably the headmaster, the one who put us here. It makes sense. He willing to give us answers, but we have to work for it."

"Yeah? Well, I'm a fan of not working much unless our lives are on the line, which it could be right now. Jury's out on that one."

"Uh?"

"Well, the amount of danger we're on depends solely on the actions of everyone else around else. That damn bear won't lay a finger on as because he's a sadist."

"Hmm, e is very much a sadist, although neither of us should be unused to working with them."

"Tell me about it. Everyone in my gestalt is a freaking sadist, except me. I mean, yeah, I don't mind inflicting pain on people, but they absolutely _love _it. It's practically a pastime for them."

"Hmm, yes. They are quite the ferocious killers," Bludgeon agreed.

"Yeah. Ugh, how's your search going?" Nautilator asked.

"Nothing more than some old news. It seems most of the stuff in this shelf is filled with pre-war news."

"Hmph, at least you got some interesting news. Mine's just some Earth fashion magazines. I mean, look at this," he said, showing a cover page of a magazine, showing a human female with long, blond hair. "Do you want to hear about life and times of Junko Enoshima?" he asked of the samurai.

"Never," Bludgeon responded.

"Exactly," Nautilator said as he looked through it extremely quickly. "I don't understand human's obsession- woah!"

"What?" Bludgeon asked, coming over to him.

"Look what I've found out about her," Nautilator said, showing him the article in the paper.

"I don't see how this could pertain to our stru- gah!" Bludgeon couldn't finished the last sentence. "Junko Enoshima accepted into Hope's Peak academy."

"Yeah, that's what I said," Nautilator said. "You know, examining the magazine again, there is something wrong with it as well."

"Hmm?" Bludgeon asked.

"I remember some Autobots talking about the year on Earth before we left for this place. They said it was 2006 when we left. However the date on the magazine says…" he said, showing it to Bludgeon.

"2008!" Bludgeon screamed out. "But that doesn't make sense."

"I know! I don't understand it either."

"Maybe it's a typo?" Bludgeon asked.

"Maybe. Hold on to this," Nautilator demanded, shoving it in his hands. He went and got a stack of datapads, each with magazines in them and looked through them quickly. "Scrap. Scrap. Scrap! Several of these have got dates past 2006."

"Than this magazine isn't an anomaly. Earth has made its way into 2008," Bludgeon murmured. "But that… is impossible."

"We were only out for a day or two… right?" Nautilator asked.

"Maybe… we have been wrong in our assumption. Perhaps we have been knocked out for far longer than we imagined."

* * *

The hours went by, and no one else made any progress. 7:00 PM came and they all headed back to the lunchroom. Almost immediately, Bludgeon and Nautilator explained to the group about the magazines they found and how they relate to their current situations.

"But that's impossible," Mirage said, exasperated. "How internal clocks can attest to the fact that we've been knocked out for only couple days when we woke up. They have to be faked," Mirage explained.

"There was a whole collection of magazines written past the dateline. All of them had entrees in them completely written. If it were just one, maybe, but a whole collection? They all have to be real," Bludgeon defended.

"Thr crtec," Nightbeat, uh, agreed?

"Look, if this is true, this is a big fine. Think about it," Nautilator asked of them.

"Look, Nautilator, we want to believe you and Bludgeon, but the clocks don't lie," Ratchet said apologetically.

"Oh come on! We looked through the library for big finds and you're completely ignoring us!" Nautilator screamed out, disappointed.

"I don't trust anything here," Swindle said, glaring at everyone. "It could be true, it could be false. Either way, it would be a bad idea to completely discount it."

"Swindle's is right," Onslaught agreed. "Right or not, we can't completely ignored it."

"Anything else you want to mention about in the magazines?" Onslaught asked.

"Well, this is a minor bit of info, but we found someone in the Earth magazines that are ahead of the date was going to attend Hope's Peak Academy," Bludgeon told them.

"Who?" Skywarp asked.

"An Earth female by the name of Junko Enoshima," bludgeon told the group "Labeled the Ultimate Fashionista."

"Umphf, I bet her and Knock Out would get along, if he wasn't too busy trying to kill anyone within distance of him," Skywarp snarked. Laserbeak gave a nod of agreement.

"You know, that actually gives the magazine more credence on being real. I highly doubt it was a coincidence that the headmaster put articles about Hope's Peak academy in there," Bumblebee said to the group.

"He is right," Perceptor agreed. "It's probably a clue the headmaster is giving us."

"But, if we were knocked out for more than a couple of days, than why hasn't Optimus rescued us?" Hoist asked. "If we've disappear for several years, you would think the combine forces of the Autobots and Decepticons would've rescued us by now."

"That's just another mystery we will have to add if Nautilator and Bludgeon's hypothesis is true," Blast Off told Hoist. "Well, I think we've been here long enough. How about we continue our research in the library," Blast Off asked, standing up. Everyone slowly glanced at each other before conceding with the sniper.

* * *

A couple more hours of searching the library revealed nothing and at 9:25 PM, they all met up at the tables in the center. "Well, nothing else of use except for more magazines dated ahead of the date," Mixmaster grumbled. "What a time waster. Might as well go back to the archives. It is open now, right?" Mixmaster asked.

"In five minutes," Jazz replied.

"Great, let's head over there and get ready for our second run through of it," Mixmaster said, heading towards it. He pressed in the off-colored wall and got ready to activate it. The others went over to him and got ready to go. At the strike of 9:30, Mixmaster pressed the button, wait a minute for the doors to open and entered the room.

Once again, an hour of searching yielded no results and the group regroup outside. The announcement by Monokuma was already made and they were all tired. "Augh, I'm tired. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to catch some zzzs," Jazz told everybody. Everyone agreed with Jazz, heading up with him to the second floor for rest and another day, taking comfort in the fact that no one had killed anyone that day.


	18. Chapter 2: In Wolves

**Day 7**

Onslaught woke up at a couple minutes before six, refreshed from his recharge. He quickly got up and headed out the door to get the other Combaticons. To his surprise, he saw that Swindle door near the end of the staircase was already opened. He quickly went over there and looked to see Swindle sitting on his berth, watching the door intensely with a knife in his hand. "Uh, Swindle?" Onslaught questioned.

"Ah, Onslaught. I guess you're safe," Swindle murmured, relaxing his knife a little bit.

"Are you alright?" Onslaught asked.

"I'm paranoid. I don't want anyone sneaking up on me while on recharging," Swindle answered briskly.

"Have you recharge at all?" Onslaught asked.

"No."

"Damnit, Swindle. You know that's not healthy," Onslaught badgered.

"Don't worry, I can go for at least a few more days. No one is going to kill me," Swindle told Onslaught.

"Are you even going to come out?" Onslaught asked.

"Only when someone I trust or a lot of people is around. Luckily, I trust you," Swindle said, getting off the berth sluggishly.

"You're not moving fine," Onslaught noticed.

"It's nothing. Let's go," Swindle ordered, getting off the berth. Onslaught silently muttered to himself at this predicament, but reassure himself that he would probably only be like this until someone murdered someone else. He just had to make sure none of his men were involve in either of those things.

"Alright, fine. Let's go get Brawl since he's so close to you," Onslaught murmured, heading over to get the brawler. Swindle followed behind him, looking around at the other doors in the hallway. Onslaught ranged the room and waited patiently for a few moments until Brawl answered the door, looking none the worse for wear.

"What up, boss? That time again to go searching in the library?" Brawl asked.

"Yes, it is. You and Swindle go get Blast Off while I get Vortex," Onslaught ordered as he head over to Vortex's door.

"You got it. Come on, Swindle," Brawl ordered, heading over to Blast Off's room. Swindle hesitated before following along with him. Onslaught quickly made his way over and ranged the ranged the door to the room. Almost immediately, Vortex opened the door.

"Ready, uh, if that's okay with you, sir," Vortex murmured. Onslaught really hated how Vortex was acting right now. Nervous, hesitant, asking for permission. That was _not _Vortex. Granted, having someone's socio and psychopathic sides downplayed did have its advantages.

"Yes, that's okay," Onslaught agreed, walking to the library.

"Ah, good!" Vortex cheered, following along. The two quickly head to the library, Brawl and Swindle following with Blast Off in tow. The Combaticons quickly traverse the connecting hallway and entered the library.

"Alright, let's switch it up today!" Onslaught ordered everyone. "Vortex, you take the fifth floor-"

"Uh, Onslaught-" Swindle tried to interrupt him.

"-Brawl, take the fourth floor-"

"Onslaught…" Swindle tried to interrupt again.

"Blast Off, take the third floor-"

"Onslaught!" Swindle yelled finally getting his attention.

"What Swindle?"

"There's someone already here," Swindle told him, indicating over to the ground floor where the tall figure of Chromedome was looking through a datapad, a cube of low-grade in hand.

"What is he doing up?" Onslaught asked.

"Why don't we find out?" Brawl asked, heading to the staircase in the center.

"Alright, let's go, but be careful. We know he's been violent with what we've seen of Rewind. Tried not to antagonize him," Onslaught ordered, him and the rest of the Combaticons coming over to the ground floor. The two went down the stairs and arrived in front of the mnemosurgeon. Chromedome looked up at the two before muttering to himself, "Cons. Great," he muttered dejectedly, before heading back to his work.

"Uh, Chromedome, how are you?" Onslaught asked.

"Fine, except for the fact that I'd hurt Rewind," Chromedome replied, walking off.

"Wait, you feel bad about it?" Blast Off asked. Chromedome stopped and looked at Blast Off.

"Yes, I do. I have no idea what came over me yesterday, but it was unforgiveable. I need to figure out why it happened," Chromedome explained. "I'm currently looking through some medical files on this."

"Wait, you're telling us you're okay now?" Onslaught asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. I don't know how yesterday happened but I'm looking into it," Chromedome told him.

"But, Swindle and Vortex are still affected by it," Brawl told him.

"Rewind as well. I checked up on him this morning. He yelled several cursed words at me and threaten to use a makes this harder for me. I thought I'd found something, but you just ruined my theory. Thanks, 'Cons," Chromedome muttered angrily.

"Hey, we can help each other out, right?" Vortex asked.

"I guess so," Chromedome agreed, depressingly.

"I'll assist with this," Blast Off offered.

"Alright, then I'll take the third floor while Swindle takes the second floor," Onslaught told the group. He group broke up, leaving Blast Off and Chromedome behind.

"Alright, sad sack, let's get started," Blast Off said. "Where's the medical datapads at?"

"Over there," he shrugged his head over to a shelf that held many datapads. Blast Off went over there and began searching through them.

* * *

A half hour later, Blast Off and Chromedome had made little progress. The search was proving to be futile and they both knew it.

"Why the frag can we find anything?" Chromedome asked himself, getting tenser.

"Probably because this thing isn't natural," Blast Off told him. "It's probable that this is something mechanical."

"Like a device?" Chromedome asked.

"Yes, in a place that we can't reached. So it's no use trying to stop it," Blast Off chastised. "You're just better off trying to contain him."

"No! I can't. I'll find something to help him," Chromedome told him. "I'm fine for a reason and I'm going to figure out why."

"Aww, isn't that just heartwarming?" Monobear asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"You…," Chromedome growled.

"Oh, hey! How are you?" Monobear asked.

"Fixed this," he threaten.

"Uh, no can do," Monobear answered cheekily.

"Why you little-"

"Calm down!" Blast Off yelled at Chromedome, making him back down. "Where have you've been?" Blast Off asked, turning to the bear.

"Oh, you know, doing things and stuff. Watching you to make sure you all murder each other. I'm disappointed right now that nobody murder anyone yesterday."

"Is that so?" Blast Off asked.

"Uh-huh! You have no idea how disappointed I was when Wildrider and Smokescreen interrupted them yesterday. I was so sure they would murder each other!"

"Oh, I'm going to kill you!" Chromedome shouted at the malicious bear.

"Chromedome, back! You know what happens if you disobey the rules," Blast Off told him. "What happened to Soundwave will happen to you and then you won't be able to help Rewind." Chromedome glared at the two, trying to figure out what to do when he relented, backing up from the bear.

"I won't lose control and leave Rewind by himself," Chromedome growled to the bear, heading back to his datapads.

"Hmph, it appears he won't be killing anyone. You lost," Blast Off told the bear.

"Hun, whatever. There's others I can manipulate. You have no idea how many ways I can insert a knife and twist it," Monobear told the sniper as he disappeared again. Blast Off glared at where the bear was before heading back to Chromedome.

"Are you alright?" Blast Off asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he reassured him. "Thanks, you know, for that. If I lost it-"

"You didn't, now let's get back to work," Blast Off told him.

"Sure thing."

* * *

Another half-hour later, Monobear made an announcement for morning and they met up at the first floor. No one made any more progress and they headed out to the other building and made their way into the lunchroom.

"Ah, welcome! I trust you made good progress," Dead End asked them happily as they entered.

"Nope," Swindle told them as he took his seat with energon in hand.

"Oh. What a shame, but I'm sure we'll find something today," Dead End cheered.

"Yeah, he's still crazy," Wildrider told them as they entered.

"Well, it's better than most kinds of crazy," Chromedome replied as he glared at Wildrider.

"Hey, I helped you yesterday," Wildrider defended himself.

"True, and for that, I'm grateful," Chromedome agreed, as he took a seat next to him.

The group sat at the table, waiting for others to come in. At 7:30, everyone else had entered, minus Knock Out. "Did we still leave him strapped to the table?" Smokescreen asked.

"Yeah," Ratchet answered, "but I'm guessing he broke out a little while ago, so we barred the door from the outside to keep him from getting out."

"Huh, I guess that's a good precaution," Perceptor agreed.

"Anyway, everybody ready for another day of useless searching?" Skywarp asked, feeding Laserbeak some energon.

"Hey, no need to act like that. I'm sure we'll finally find something today," Dead End said.

"Maybe, but we probably won't," Drift said gloomily.

"Woah, what's with the gloom?" Dead End asked.

"I'm not gloomy, I'm just being a realist. That library is too big for the twenty-seven of us to search through," Drift told everyone.

"Ugh, I hate to say it, but he's got a point," Rewind agreed.

"Well than, what should we do? Nothing?" Onslaught asked him.

"No, I'm not saying that," Drift backpedalled, trying not to anger him. "I'm just saying, all we've found so far is the fact that another school existed on Earth and these two-" he gestured to Bludgeon and Nautilator sitting next to him, "think that we may have been in a coma for a couple of years, but that's just ludicrous."

"Hey, it's a good idea!" Nautilator yelled.

"Maybe," Drift said, "but we've still haven't figured much out."

"Well, then we need to persevere. We cannot let a lack of results stop us from continuing forth and getting answers," Bludgeon told the room. "We must continue to peruse the library."

"I agree!" Onslaught agreed, getting up. "Everybody ready to go?"

"Ugh, if you insist," Swindle muttered, getting up and heading out of the room.

"Come on, everybody. I insist that you come," Onslaught beckoned the room. Only people that got up were the Combaticons, Bludgeon, Dead End, and Nautilator. "Seriously?" Onslaught asked the room. Wildrider and Chromedome got up, slightly relunctantly. "Thank you, I guess," Onslaught murmured. "Alright, if you won't come for searching the library, at least come for the archive opening at 10:30, alright? That's three hours," Onslaught told the room. "We need to spend as much time in there as we can."

"Yeah, we'll be there," Jazz agreed. "It's the very least we can do. I'll make sure they will come," Jazz told him.

"Alright" Onslaught agreed. "Combaticons and everyone else, let's go."

* * *

"Alright, fifth floor, let's see what you got," Vortex murmured.

"You know why they paired us up?" Swindle asked him.

"No. Why?"

"Because, they think we're the crazy ones," Swindle told him, sliding through a page.

"Crazy? That's absurd. Why would they think we're crazy?"

"Because, other people have been going crazy. They don't know that _they_ are going crazy."

"They are going crazy?" Vortex asked. "That's… that's absurd."

"Absurd, maybe, but it's the truth," Swindle said, walking over to him. "We have to watch each other's back. Every single one of them, right now? Planning our downfall."

"Swindle, you can't honestly be serious, can you?" Vortex asked.

"Would I be talking to you if I wasn't?" Swindle asked. "The only one we can trust is Onslaught. He won't betray us."

"But what about Blast Off and Brawl?" Vortex asked.

"Just like the rest, although I don't think they would have it in them to murder one of us. Yeah, they'll leave us to die, but I don't think they'll murder us."

"Swindle, you need to stop being paranoid. It's unlike you," Vortex chastised.

"Unlike me? Vortex, do you know how many precautions I take when making a deal? Let me give you a hint: way too fragging many!" Swindle told him. "You always have to be wary of whether someone is going to backstab you or not."

"But, still, Blast Off and Brawl?" Vortex asked. "They wouldn't sacrifice us to get out, would they?"

"Tanks have a bit of a temper problem," Swindle reminded Vortex, "and Blast Off has always been aloof."

"Still, I don't think they would kill anybody."

"Hmph, foolish. I would stay away from them," Swindle told him.

"Oh, come on, we can trust them and I'll prove it by the end of the day," Vortex told him.

"If you want to, but keep me away from that fool's errand."

"Oh, come on Swindle. My profession is torturing people for information. If I don't kill anyone, than I doubt they will," Vortex told him.

"Hmph, valid point, but I'm still sticking to my point."

"If you want to keep that fool's belief," Vortex mocked.

* * *

"Why did you have to agree to search the library?" Wildrider asked Dead End as they continued to look through the fourth floor.

"Because, I trust in Bludgeon and Onslaught's optimism," Dead End replied.

"Deady, learn to stop being happy and optimistic," Wildrider ordered. "I could be out doing other things like getting smash, getting in lounge fights, or plotting the overthrow of all world governments!"

"Now, now, Wildrider, anarchy is not the answer to all government problems," Dead End chastised.

"It should be!" Wildrider shouted.

"Anyway, we should be concentrated on our current goal of getting information. I'm sure if you will concentrate on it, we will find something on this school."

"Deady, this place is about the size of Metroplex's fist. It's going to take forever to thoroughly search through this place."

"Maybe, but we have to find something if we want to figure out the mysteries of this school," Dead End told him. "Don't you want to know the identity of the person who's got us held here against our will?" Dead End asked.

"Yeah, so I can rip him apart."

* * *

"What do you think the two are talking about up there, boss?" Brawl asked Onslaught as they continued there searched on the third floor.

"Knowing Swindle's current state, he's probably going on about how no one can be trusted while Vortex's just listens. Nothing too serious," Onsluaght told him.

"Hmm, if you say so, but don't you think it would be wise to keep them separated?" Brawl asked.

"Maybe, but Swindle was already up there and Vortex wanted to continued up there, so there was no stopping him," Onslaught reminded him.

"I guess you got a point,"" Brawl agreed, peering through the datapads.

"Look, Brawl, nothing bad will come out of it. I can trust those two together. They worked together often enough," Onslaught told him. "They are mutually beneficial to each other."

"Maybe, but I still don't like it."

* * *

Chromedome and Blast Off searched the second floor mostly in silence, occasionally peppered with a brief sentence or two telling each other what they found.

* * *

"Can you believe what Drift said about out theory?" Nautilator asked Bludgeon as he searched through the datapads.

"Yes, I do," Bludgeon replied.

"Huh?"

"Him and the rest of the group are running on skepticism from our, frankly, minor evidence and slim connections. If we want to prove to them that we're right, we have to find more evidence, which I intend to do today," Bludgeon told Nautilator.

"Yeah, I guess you have a point… AH!" Nautilator screamed.

"What?" Bludgeon asked, coming towards him.

"I-I think I may have found something," Nautilator told him. Bludgeon, intrigued, came over to see what he saw.

"What have you found?" Bludgeon asked.

"I was searching through recent news reports and look!" Nautilator told him, giving it to him.

Bludgeon, confused, looked at the data report. "'Science Fair Blows Away Expectations.' "I don't quite see your point," Bludgeon told him.

"Read on," Nautilator told him.

"Humph, let us see.' Science fair had some of brightest youth show off their skills.' Hu-huh. Let's see, 'the event was held at former senate building in front of the brightest minds of our previous generations'. Yes, and 'the best ones came from…'" Bludgeon paused in his reading. "Hope's Peak Academy."

"Yes, that's it!" Nautilator told him.

"Uh, when we were knocked out, the building was just about to be opened. Now, according to this, not only did the placed opened, but they are actively taking place in events," Bludgeon said to himself.

"That's not the best part! Head to the bottom where a picture of the students are!" Nautilator told him. Bludgeon glared at Nautilator for not straight out telling him and slide down to the bottom, where the very sight of it cause him to be startled.

In it were a collection of young mechs and femmes, all of different shapes and sizes and, judging by the lack of scars on them, had never seen the evils of war. In it, they were posing with the teachers who helped honed their skills.

They were Perceptor, Beachcomber, Mixmaster, and the recently deceased Shockwave.

Perceptor was standing in the middle, relaxed, a small smile on his face. Beachcomber was crouched down next to one of his students, grinning as hard as he could. Mixmaster stood a bit to the left, arms crossed, and a sliver of a smile on his face. Shockwave rounded it out, standing to the right, impassive, not an ounce of emotion on his frame.

It was… odd, seeing the four of them posing together in one pic, looking pretty happy.

"When… how could a picture like this happened?" Bludgeon asked, shocked. "I don't think any of them ever got together like this before."

"That's a mystery!" Monokuma shouted, popping out right next to him.

"You! Tell us how this could've happen!" Bludgeon commanded of the bear.

"Aw, but if I tell you that, then I'll be spoiling the story and that's not fair to the watchers," Monobear said, depressed.

"Watchers?" Bludgeon asked, confused.

"What, you ever heard of a fourth wall?" Monobear asked.

"What is th- it doesn't matter! Tell me how did this happened," Bludgeon ordered.

"Patience, Bludgy. You have to figure that out, not me," Monobear told him.

"Oh, come on! Can't you at least give us a hint?" Nautilator asked of him.

"Nah, I'll let you solve it yourself. Have fun!" the bear finished, vanishing again.

"That insidious creature," Bludgeon growled out. "What does all of this mean?"

"I don't know. It's like we're given the ending without knowing what happened in-between it and the beginning," Nautilator complain, holding on to his head. "Oh, boy, I feel a head-ache coming on. Too much information coming through at one time."

"Whatever, we'll show this to Drift today and make him and his fellow skeptics choke on it," Bludgeon told the Seacon as he continued to search through the shelves. "Come, we must see if we can find more evidence of a missing time."

* * *

Time went by for the group until just before 10:30, everyone else started coming. The library people finished their search and regroup with the other people in the lobby. Everyone besides Knock Out, who was still locked in the first floor infirmary, had arrived, ready for their hourly search of the archives. Drift approached the wall and pushed in the screen, causing the screen to come up.

"Everybody ready?" he asked. Everyone gave a sign of approval. "Alright, remember, we got a hour. After that, the door closes and won't be opened for another 12 hours, which should be ar 11:30 tonight. Now, let's go," he told them as he clicked opened. Once the minute spent on the door opening, they entered and began searching the computers.

* * *

Time flew by and everyone was once again met with the same results. Quickly, the time remaining decreased at an alarming rate. 45 minutes. 30 minutes. 15 minutes. 10. 5. 3. 2. 1.

"Alright everybody, let's go!" Jazz shouted to everyone, heading for the door. Quickly, everyone made their way out. In less than a minute, the room was emptied out and everyone stood outside. Jazz took a look at everyone's face. All of them shined with disappointment. The three scientist were all staying with each other, discussing what they had found. Everyone that was in the library earlier had a dejected look on their face. Drift was sitting on one of the desks, a stern look on his face, as was Mirage sitting next to him. Skywarp was caring for Laserbeak, while Blurr was heading out of the room faster than anyone else, Counterpunch silently following behind him. Hoist stood by himself, along with Nightbeat, both having inquisitive looks on their faces. Smokescreen was talking with Hound about their lack of luck while Ratchet was wondering what to do next. "Alright, everyone, lunch," Jazz announced to everyone. "Let's refuel and meet in the lunch room.

"Uh, if you don't mind, I'll just stay by myself," Smokescreen told everyone. "I don't really feel like sitting with everyone else today."

"Yes, can I do that too?" Blast Off asked. "I'll just go to one of the lounges for energon."

"That's cool. Anyone that doesn't want to go to the lunch today, do whatever. Anybody else that does, let's go," Jazz told the group.

* * *

"Well, aren't we a small bunch," Jazz said as he took his seat next to Brawl. Besides the two of them, Onslaught, Vortex, Bludgeon, Dead End, Wildrider, Nautilator, Drift, Hoist, and Nightbeat was there.

"Ou cn sit ha," Nightbeat replied.

"Ditto," Wildrider agreed.

"How do you possibly understand him?" Onslaught asked.

"He's speaking idiot. I'm really good at understanding it," Wildrider explained.

"Anyway, anyone found anything useful?" Drift asked. "I'm dassuming if anyone outside the group found anything, they would be here too."

"We did," Nautilator said, showing Drift the report on the Science fair. "What they frag?" Drift murmured as he slid down the report until the reach the end. "What the- But that's impossible!"

"What is?" Brawl asked, not likeing being kept in the dark.

"This is a report on a Science fair, with the best ones done by the stundents of Hope's Peak Academy."

"So?" Wildrider asked.

"It's on Cybertron."

"What? But the school wasn't opened when we came here. It's only just got done with construction," Dead End said.

"That's not the weirdest part. Take a look at the teachers with the students," Drift said, tossing the report in the middle of the table. One at a time, everyone looked at it, all of them shocked by the pictured before them.

"What is with Perceptor, Shockwave, Beachcomber, and Mixmaster in the same picture?" Hoist asked out loud, the first to speak. "They all live in different areas and couldn't have been together at one point in time to take a pictured together."

"And what are they doing with students from Hope's Peak academy?" Vortex asked. "WE never taught anyone in the school."

"Now tell me, Drift, does out theory look flimsy now?" Bludgeon asked Drift, just a tad smugly.

"I do admit, it does look viable now, but it raises way too many questions," Drift said. "What the fragged did we missed? How the frag do the four of them not remember that moment together? How do they not remember even working for Hope's Peak?"

"We'll have to find more answers for that in the library," Jazz told the group.

"Well then, is everybody refueled?" Onslaught asked the group. They all nodded. "Then let's get started."

* * *

The group arrived at the library and began searching it. The small group went through it quickly, deciding to take the whole fifth floor together. They ravaged through it for the next few hours, looking through every single datapad. By the end of it, the group had reconvened at just after six.

"Alright, so, did anyone find anything to help us, or can we rule this floor out for the rest of the time here?" Jazz asked the group. Everyone quickly reported back negatives from the floor. "Alright, let's go to the lunch room and decide what to do together."

* * *

"So, the fifth floor gave us a whole lot of nothing," Brawl muttered, displeased with the information that they didn't found.

"Unfortunately, yes," Dead End agreed sadly. "Finding information is extremely difficult."

"We can't stop," Vortex told the group. "We have to find more information on the school somehow."

"We will, it's just extremely tedious," Onslaught told Vortex. "We'll began again at seven."

"Find with me if you're going to continue searching," Hoist told the group. "I'll stay as long as you are."

"As will I," Bludgeon agreed.

"Count me out" Nautilator said. "I need to go rest in my room."

"Sorry, but I'm feeling pretty tired as well," Jazz answered. "I think I'll turn in early and get up at six tomorrow with the rest of you Combaticons."

"I think I'll do what Jazz says," Ratchet said.

"Me too," Drift replied.

"Me and Wildrider will offer the best help we can," Dead End told the group, causing a glare from Wildrider.

Nightbeat gave a thumbs up in agreement with Dead End.

"Alright, well then, everybody rest and we'll continued at seven," Onslaught told the remaining workforce.

"Right, if you don't mind, I'll go now. See you later, dudes," Jazz told them, getting up and heading out of the room. He went ahead and went up the steps to the dorm rooms, passing by Swindle's room, who was sitting with a knife in his hand, watching the doorway. Jazz walked quickly passed the room and headed for his room. He arrived at his door and opened it, closing it behind him. He walked to his berth and laid down on it, trying to relax.

Suddenly, a flash light occurred and Skywarp appeared in front of him, Laserbeak resting on his chest. "Woah, Skywarp. What up?" Jazz asked, tensed.

"Okay, look, you guys look stress, so look at what I brought you," Skywarp announced, showing off some cubes of _high-grade_.

"Woah, where did you get that?" Jazz asked.

"Believe it or not, Mixmaster is one hell of a brewer. Dude made some to relax and I decided to bring some to you," Skywarp explained to him.

"Oh, cool," Jazz replied, relaxing again. "I think I'll take some," Jazz replied, taking a couple of them off his hands. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Skywarp replied.

"I'll probably wake up later than usual. High-grade makes me a bit of a deep sleeper," Jazz told him. "And a bit crazy."

"Eh, don't worry. They can hold the fort for the night," Skywarp told him.

"Nice," Jazz said as he realized something.

"Hey, Skywarp, can't you just teleport in the archives?"

"Nope. The headmaster was somehow able to block that as well," Skywarp complained. "It ticks me off."

"Oh, too bad," Jazz murmured.

"Yeah, well, drink up!" Skywarp told him, a high-grade in hand.

"Alright," Jazz agreed, the two knocking their cubes together and drinking from it.

* * *

**Day 8**

Jazz gave a groaned as he woke up from the floor of his room. His room was trashed, the table flipped, cabinet on the floor, and some of the high-grade on the floor. Next to him was a sleeping Skywarp, cuddling him.

"Ah!" Jazz screamed, getting up unsteadily.

"I didn't slap the fish!" Skywarp yelled, waking up. "Ow…" he murmured, rubbing his head. "My head hurts."

"What time is it?" Jazz asked, looking for the clock.

"I don't know. All I know is that my head hurts," Skywarp yelled. Jazz ignored him, looking at the clock, seeing that it was 12:29.

"Oh, man, it's 12:29!"

"AM?"

"PM!"

"Scrap…" Skywarp muttered as he got himself off the floor. "Where's Laserbeak? I don't want Soundwave haunting me from the grave if I let him die," Skywarp asked. Jazz stumbled across the room and into the bathroom.

"Found him," Jazz told him. "He's sleeping in the bathroom."

"I'm coming little birdie!" Skywarp said crawling his way over there and picking his minicon off the floor. "Aw, look, he's hungover, just like us," Skywarp said, pointing out the struggling minicon.

"You fed him some of the low-grade?" Jazz asked, washing his face, trying to wake himself up.

"Hey, he looked interested in it," Skywarp defended.

"If Soundwave was still here, he would be ripping you apart right now," Jazz said, getting out of the bathroom. He peered at the time again. 12:31.

"Alright, Skywarp, if we hurry, we can prevent ourselves from being useless."

"Look, can't we just stayed here. Nothing is going on –"

DING DONG!

The two grew silent and stared at each other as the bell rang and the announcement by Monobear started.

"A body has been discovered. Following an investigation period, we will hold a class trial."

The two had grown numbed at the announcement. Beachcomber, Blast Off, Bludgeon, Blurr, Brawl, Bumblebee, Chromedome, Counterpunch, Dead End, Drift, Hoist, Hound, Knock Out, Mirage, Mixmaster, Nautilator, Nightbeat, Onslaught, Perceptor, Ratchet, Rewind, Scavenger, Smokescreen, Swindle, Vortex, or Wildrider.

One of them was dead.


	19. Chapter 2: Investigating the Torture

**AN: The frmatting in a couple of things is a bit confusing. I'm sorry for that. **

The two of them stared at each other as they, really hoping this was just some shared dream they were having. One of them killing someone again? That was… that shouldn't happen. It wasn't supposed to happen. It's impossible. This was all nothing more than a dream. That's it. Just a

BZZZK

Their electroID buzzed to life, startling the two. The glance at each other before taking their electroID out and turning them on. The Evidence Bullet had an update symbol on it. The two glanced at each other.

"So, I guess this isn't a dream," Skywarp muttered, clicking the button. Jazz did the same and it took them to the evidence list of the second case. The only thing available was Monobear File #2. The two glanced at each other again. "Ready to figured out who died?" he asked him.

"Yeah, let's get it over with," Jazz murmured. Skywarp gave a slow nod before him and Jazz clicked it at the same time.

**Ammo Gained: Monobear File #2 **

**Victim: Vortex**

**Location of Discovery: Archives. **

**Additional Notes: Victim's body has sustained massive amounts of blunt force injury, multiple parts being dismember. Multiple stab wounds littered the body. Head decapitated. **

"Vortex," Skywarp said, surprised. "I didn't think he would be a victim."

"Neither did I," Jazz agreed, putting up his electroID. "Well, let's make our way to the archives," Jazz told him.

"Wait, there's something odd about this," Skywarp noticed.

"Uh," Jazz said, before getting it back out and taking a second look. "Wait, I see what you mean. Neither the time nor the cause of death is listed. Now why is that?" Jazz questioned.

"I don't know. Let's go find out," Skywarp said, opening the door. Jazz followed quickly and the two of them quickly made their way over to the library. In there, everyone else was waiting, Most of them was looking confused, wondering how another murder could be committed. However, one individual was mad as hell.

"Which one of you did it!?" Onslaught yelled at the crowd of people, his remaining gestaltmates behind him. Brawl, like Onslaught, was angry, but was keeping his cool better than Onslaught, surprisingly. In fact, it looked like he was moving sluggishly. Blast Off was watching over everyone with an air of contempt for everyone around him. Swindle was staring at everyone, regarding them with suspicion, grasping a knife close to his chest.

"Onslaught, if you wish to solve the case, I recommend that instead of yelling at everyone, we look for evidence," Blast Off told his leader. Onslaught glared at his subordinate before backing off, heading towards the archives.

"Fine," he muttered, heading in. Jazz and Skywarp watched this with confusion at the scene in front of them. "Well, guess we'd better go help them," Jazz said, heading down the catwalks and down the staircase, Skywarp closed behind him. The two reached the bottom, and made their way to the entrance.

"Woah, what are you doing?" Brawl asked, getting in front of them. "Are you suicidal?"

"Huh?" Skywarp asked.

"In case you couldn't tell, Onslaught is on a rampage," Brawl told them.

"Okay, look. Me and Skywarp? Full-proof alibis. There was no way we could've murder him," Jazz told the brawler.

"Really? Why?"

"Me and him were slag-faced before 10 PM and didn't leave his room. There's high-grade stains and the room is trashed," Skywarp told Brawl. "I know, weird excuse for an alibi, but it's the truth." Brawl looked at the two suspiciously, before relenting, standing out of the way.

"Alright, truth is, we need as much help as we can," Brawl told the two, before glancing at Ratchet.

"Hey, you," he yelled for him.

"Yes?" Ratchet asked

"We need someone examining the body," Brawl told him.

"Right," Ratchet agreed, heading in the archives with the group. Jazz and Skywarp were a bit tensed at the first encounter of the body, but braved up and looked inside.

The archive looked very much the same, none of the computers being affected, but that didn't stop the sight before them. In a clearing the center, they could see two halves of a broken tables. Vortex's lower half was tied to it with strands of wires, one of the legs separated from the rest of the body. The other half was tossed over like the other, but Vortex's upper half wasn't connected to it. Instead, his upper half had broken free. An energon trail was there, leading to Vortex's body just a little bit away from it. It looked like he was crawling away when someone took his head off, it resting just a little away from him with the back of it crushed in.

It was a gruesome sight.

"Okay, I think they may have overdone it," Skywarp muttered.

"Overkill doesn't even begin to describe it," Jazz muttered.

"You!" Onslaught yelled, walking over to them. "Why are you here?" Onslaught asked.

"We got alibis," Jazz explained. "It was impossible for either of us to kill Vortex."

"Is this true?" Onslaught asked Brawl.

"Yes, sir."

"Alright." He turned to Ratchet. "Start checking Vortex's body. Now."

"Okay, I'll start looking over the scene," Ratchet agreed, heading over to the body.

"You two," Onslaught growled to the other two non-Combaticons. "I'm heading the investigation, you understand? You two are assisting along with my men. Together, I expect us to find a killer, understand?"

"Crystal," Skywarp answered.

"You got it," Jazz answered.

"Good, now then," he murmured, looking over at the crowd, "let's figure out which of them killed Vortex."

_Investigation Start_

**Head Detective: Onslaught **

**Assistant Detectives: Blast Off, Brawl, Swindle, Ratchet, Jazz, Skywarp**

The first thing Onslaught and the duo did was head over to investigate the body with Ratchet. "Found anything?" Onslaught asked.

"Well, I found a knife stuck in his body," he said, pointing to the lower half of the corpse. "I tried to remove it to get a better look, but it was stuck."

"Stuck?" Jazz asked.

"Yeah. Judging by where the knife is, it hit him right where the T-cog is. It's probably one of the first thing the culprit did. Vortex probably tried to transform, causing it to get stuck in there. You should add the knife and the T-cogs state in there."

"Interesting," Onslaught murmured before adding it in.

**Ammo Gained: Knife**

**Found embedded in the victim's chest where the T-cog resides. Unable to be removed. **

**Ammo Gained: Vortex's T-cog**

**Tried to use it when the knife hit him.**

"Anything else?" Onslaught asked.

"Well, he's got several knife wounds on him, but they look different from the knife stuck in his chest."

"Good."

**Ammo Gained: Knife Wounds **

**Victim was covered in Knife wounds, but they looked different from the knife embedded in his chest. **

"Anything else?"

"Well, cause of death is going to be difficult, but I'll try and figure it out," Ratchet told him. "The wire looks like it came from the tool room, so you should investigate it for any evidence," Ratchet told him.

**Ammo Gained: Wire **

**Used to restrain the victim to the table.**

"Also, I'm sure this table came from the library. It looks like it's missing one."

**Ammo Gained: Broken Table **

**Table used to torture Vortex was from the library and split in half. **

"Right," Onslaught murmured.

"Also, there is something odd about the table. Look what's under it," Ratchet told him. Onslaught agreed, looking under both ends of the table.

"Huh, bit hard to tell, but it looks like a eight."

"Yes, and there's usually sixteen tables in the library."

"Hmm, could be useful to look into that," Onslaught thought.

**Ammo Gained: Numbers under the table**

**Numbers are etched under the tables. The one Vortex was tied to was number eight.**

"Anything else you want to tell me?"

"If I find anything else, I'll informed you," Ratchet told him briskly.

"Good. I want this bastard caught quickly," Onslaught growled, ordering Skywarp to watch over him and heading out of the room, bring Jazz with him. "Blast Off, you've found anything?"

"Nothing, sir. I spent most of last night in my room alone," Blast Off told him.

"I was about the same, but I kept my door open all throughout the night. I saw a few people crossing my door."

"Uh, quick question?" Jazz asked, butting in. Onslaught turned towards him.

"What?" Onslaught asked.

"Huh, since Vortex's body is in the archive, why did it take you so long to open it? Did you used it last night?" Jazz asked.

"No, we didn't," Brawl answered.

"And yet, we couldn't opened until 12:30 today," Blast Off murmured, "which means it was opened at 11:30 last night."

**Ammo Gained: Archive Door Opening. **

**Door was opened at 11:30 PM last night. **

"So, between 11:30 and 12:30, we can assume that Vortex was tortured in that time frame," Onslaught said. "Swindle, you see anybody about at that time frame or anytime after it?" Onslaught asked.

"I saw Hound at a little past 1 AM," Swindle replied.

**Ammo Gained: Swindle's Testimony**

**Saw Hound passed his door at 1:00 PM. **

"Can we pull up when the archive was used?" Onslaught asked.

"You can only do that once that door's closed," Jazz told him.

"Alright, then we'll checked that out last," Onslaught agreed.

"Hy u!" the still-gibberish voice of Nightbeat called out, heading over to them.

"What do you want?"

"ltj mh hvp," Nightbeat 'said.'

"Ugh, where's Wildrider?" Onslaught asked the crowd.

"Right here!" Wildrider said, getting closer.

"Translate him," Onslaught ordered.

"Ugh, yeah, I think he says that he wants to help," Wildrider answered.

"Yarp!" Nightbeat replied.

"That's an affirmative."

"Can I trust you?" Onslaught asked.

"Why don't you send me, him and Dead End together?" Wildrider asked.

"That could be a good idea," Jazz agreed.

"Humph, fine. That table Vortex's was tortured. There's a number four etched under it. Figure out where it usually is," Onslaught told them.

"Right, you got it!" Wildrider confimed, him and Nightbeat heading off to retrieve Dead End.

**Assistant Detectives Gained: Nightbeat, Wildrider, and Dead End**

"Blast Off! Brawl! Check out everyone's whereabouts last night!" Onslaught ordered.

"Orders confirmed," Blast Off agreed, heading into the crowd.

"Moving, boss," Brawl agreed, heading off as well.

"Swindle, do a thorough sweep of the archives and find any evidence," Onslaugh ordered.

"Got it," Swindle muttered, heading back inside.

"What should we do?" Jazz asked.

"Simple, we're going to talk with the good doctor," Onslaught explained, heading for the first floor entrance.

"Knock Out?" Jazz asked.

"Yes. I need to check to see if his door's still locked and get a testimony from him. If the door is broken, he's automatically one of the more suspicious people in this case," Onslaught explained, going through the connecting halls and into the first floor.

"Good point. He does seem like the most violent one here. He could've escaped last night," Jazz agreed, as him and Onslaught took a couple of turns and arrived at the door.

"Huh, looks like I was wrong," Onslaught murmured, seeing the piece of metal used to jammed the door closed.

**Ammo Gained: First Floor Infirmary**

**Still barred shut to keep Knock Out in.**

"Still, couldn't hurt to get his testimony," Jazz said, removing the metal bar from it and opening it. Inside, they could see Knock Out relaxing, a cube of energon in his hand, looking nonchalant.

"Ah, took you long enough," he said coolly, taking another sip of his cube. "So, Vortex got himself killed."

"Are you alright?" Jazz asked.

"I've been alright since yesterday," he answered.

"How did you get out of your bindings?" Onslaught asked, surprised.

"Did you forget that my hands can turned into buzz saws?" Knock Out asked. "It was easy to get out and keep myself well-fed with the energon here," Knock Out answered. "Plus, it kept me safe from any murderers outside, which is a plus."

"Well, you probably don't know anything," Onslaught murmured.

"Hey, I'll let you know, I was up during my whole imprisonment here," Knock Out explained.

"You were?"

"Yes, I was. Someone could've sneaked in during my beauty sleep and there's a rule against sleeping in areas outside your dormroom. Unlike my room, this place doesn't have any locks. If someone messed with the bar, I could prepare myself and deliver the first blow," Knock Out explained.

"Well, did you see anything past 11:30?" Onslaught asked.

"Well, I didn't hear anything," Knock Out said, to their disappointment, "but I did heared something."

"You did?" Jazz asked.

"Yes, at some time after 12:30, I heard footsteps walking pasted my room. It sounded like they were heading for the stairs near here," Knock Out explained.

"That… really helpful," Jazz thanked.

"Well, what do you expect? My life is on the line here, ust like the rest of you. I'll do anything to ensure my survival," Knock Out explained. "Answering honestly increases our chance of success and I, along with the rest of you, get to live."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense," Jazz agreed.

"Anyway, thanks for opening the door. If you need anything else, I'll head to my room and see if I can get some rest and buffer myself a little bit."

"Alright, I guess that's fine," Onslaught said. "I doubt you have any more useful information."

"Hmph, no appreciation. That's great," Knock Out muttered, heading for the stairs nearby.

**Ammo Gained: Knock Out's testimony**

**Heard footsteps walking past the first floor infirmary to the stairs at a little after 12:30.**

"Well, guess we'll head back to the archives," Jazz said.

"Yes, I think we've given Nightbeat's group enough time to examine the table and Ratchet enough time to examine the body," Onslaught agreed. The two quickly headed over to the library, where Dead End was waiting for hem

"Ah, good news!" Dead End replied cheerily. "All the tables do have a number on them and we made a chart to show it from the point of view of the entrance," Dead End explained, showing them the chart.

13 14 15 16

Archives 10 11 12

5 6 7 9

1 2 3 4

Entrance

"What the- there's something wrong with the desks," Jazz noticed immediately.

"Yeah, there is a pattern evident, but for some reason, the nine is out of ordered. Now why is that?" Dead End replied

"The number nine desk is closest to the archives if it followed the ordered," Onslaught noticed.

"Yeah, it would be," Jazz agreed.

**Ammo Gained: Chart of Desks**

**Shows placement of desks. The number nine desks appeared to be out of ordered and the number eight desk missing. **

"Let's go check out that number nine desk," Onslaught said, heading over there.

"Right," Jazz agreed.

"I'll come with you," Dead End said, the three of them heading over to desk nine to find no one there. "Hmm, I thought I left Wildrider and Nightbeat here. They must be working on a hunch," Dead End said.

"Whatever, let's check it out," Onslaught said, flipping the desk over.

"Woah, what are you doing!?" Jazz asked.

"Getting answers," Onslaught told him, looing under the desk. "Definitely a nine under here," Onslaught said, as he noticed the nine on it, identifiable from a six by a line under it.

"Huh, I don't see anything wrong with… it…." Jazz paused at as he looked at the ground. "Woooooow," he drawled out.

"Huh," Onslaught questioned.

"That's one big crack," Jazz noticed. Onslaught turned his gaze downward to what Jazz saw. He saw a major spiral cracked on the floor. "Looks like a major impact on the floor."

"Yeah. Very interesting."

**Ammo Gained: Giant Crack in Floor **

**A crack on the floor that came from a massive impact. Found under table nine.**

"I wonder what could've caused it," Jazz wondered.

"Hey!" someone yelled, causing the two to look above at the third floor balcony. "Look what we found up here," Wildrider said, wanting them to come up there.

"What did they found?" Jazz wondered.

"Let's find out," Onslaught ordered, heading up the steps. The three headed up and saw Nightbeat and Wildrider looking at the railing.

"What's up?" Jazz asked.

"Te rilng," Nightbeat said.

"The railing," Wildrider translated.

"The railing?" Jazz asked, looking at the railing and seeing something strange. "It's bent inward."

"And there is some bodily energon on it," Onslaught noticed.

"Only a little bit. The impact must've been quick," Dead End noticed.

**Ammo Gained: Third Floor Railing **

**Railing on third floor catwalk was bent inward.**

"So, the culprit cased Vortex around the library first before subduing him somewhere around the library," Onslaught noticed. He glanced at Wildrider and Nightbeat. "Find the place where the culprit attacked him, quickly, before time runs out. And take Dead End with you."

"You got it," Wildrider agreed, the two of them heading off. Dead End gave a slight nod before heading out.

"Okay, let's see if any of the testimonies are useful," Onslaught said, the two of them going back to the first floor to where Brawl and Blast Off were waiting for them. "Found anything?" Onslaught asked.

"Beachcomber was up at the A/V room at 8:30 until 1:00," Blast Off told Onslaught. "Not much to go on.

**Ammo Gained: Beachcomber's Testimony**

**Up at A/V room from 8:30 PM until 1:00 AM.**

"Mixmaster was drinking," Brawl said. "Up at fourth-floor lounge at 10:30 'til 12:45, after which he head to his room. Had a clear view of the hallway leading to staircase. Saw no one."

"Was he alone?"

"No. Blurr was with him, but he didn't drink any of the high-grade. Stayed at lounge until 1:15. He stayed sober and can collaborate Mixmaster's statement," Brawl answered.

"Well, I guess we can count those two off," Onslaught agreed.

**Ammo Gained: Mixmaster and Blurr's Testimony**

**Up at fourth-floor lounge together. Saw no one. Both were there at 10:30 PM. Mixmaster left at 12:45 AM while Blurr left at 1:15 AM. **

"Any more information?" Onslaught asked.

"No one else was around at the time of the murder, from the people we could question," Blast Off answered.

"_Could _question?"

"Well, Hound is missing. We can't find him around the library. He's probably in the other building somewhere," Brawl told him.

"Can someone go find him?" Onslaught asked.

"Look, we want too, but we've seen a couple trying to sneak through and looked through the crime scene?" Brawl explained.

"Who?"

"The Constructicons. They're both trying to look into the archives,"

"They are?" Onslaught questioned.

"Yes, it's very suspicious," Blast Off said. Onslaught and Jazz looked at each other.

"I'll put it in," Jazz murmured.

**Ammo Gained: Constructicons' Strange Behavior**

**Both of the Constructicons were trying to sneak into archive. **

"Right, let's check out Ratchet," Onslaught said, heading back inside. The two left Blast Off and Brawl alone and went back into the room.

"Aw, hello. How are the both of you?" Ratchet asked.

"Pissed," Onslaught growled.

"Alright," Jazz hesitated.

"Well, I'll tell you a few things. First off, I've confirmed that the energon here is definitely bodily energon. Looks like he was tortured here," Ratchet explained.

"Nice to see that test you did is working wonders," Skywarp said.

**Ammo Gained: Energon at Body**

**Definitely bodily energon. **

"Second, the neck."

"Neck?"

"There is an odd pattern to it. See, look," he said, holding up Vortex's head. "Look at the neck cables. Most of it appears to have ripped off."

"Yeah, good. So the culprit used some blunt force weaponry to take it off.," Onslaught said, feeling a little sick.

"That's not important," Ratchet told him.

"What are you talking about?" Ratchet asked, about ready to punch Ratchet's head off.

"Looked at the last pieces of wire here," Ratchet said, showing them off. "Unlike the rest, they look like they're cut with an extremely fine knife," Ratchet explained.

"I've ripped heads off. They don't do something like this," Skywarp muttered.

"What? Why take most of someone's head off with a blunt force object, then slice the rest of it off?" Jazz asked.

"I don't know," Ratchet said. "I just explained what killed them, not how it happened, Ratchet explained.

"Well, this is very strange," Onslaught murmured.

**Ammo Gained: Strange Neck Wound Pattern**

**Neck was mostly ripped apart except for a small part that was cut off. **

"Any more information?" Onslaught asked.

"Yeah, something very weird," Ratchet said.

"What would that be, Ratch," Jazz asked.

"I found what looked like black glass inside one of the stab wounds," Ratchet said, showing him.

"Black glass?" came a voice behind them, leading to Swindle coming up to them.

"Yes," Ratchet said.

"Let me see it," Swindle asked. Ratchet handed it to him. "Obsidian," he answered immediately.

"Obsidian?" Ratchet asked.

"Yes, remember?" Swindle asked. "The infirmary had a set of obsidian blades in the infirmaries," Swindle told the group.

"Wait, I remember. First night here, we explored the fourth floor together. You pointed out to me that and the diamond alloy blades."

"Both would be sharp enough to slice Vortex opened," Swindle said. "I'll check the infirmaries now."

"Skip the first floor. That's clear. Check the others," Onslaught told him.

"Roger," Swindle agreed, heading out.

**Ammo Added: Obsidian Shard**

**A piece of Obsidian found in the body. **

"Wait!" Onslaught called out for him

"What?" Swindle asked, frustrated.

"Found anything in here," Onslaught asked.

"There's a side room," Swindle answered. "There's nothing much of used. In the side room, there's a jagged piece of metal most people wouldn't see when entering a rom. On it, green paint scrape that looked like it came from a body, but it doesn't match any of the paint jobs here, so it's useless," Swindle explained.

"Never assumed anything is worthless," Onslaught told him. "I'm sure this will help crack the case."

**Ammo Gained: Green Paint Scrape**

**A jagged piece of metal had green paint scrape on it. Doesn't match any of the paint jobs in the school.**

"Suit yourself," Swindle muttered, heading out.

"Right, want to see if Nightbeat's group found where Vortex was assaulted," Jazz asked.

"Let's go," Onslaught agreed.

"Wait, there's also something wrong with one of his hands," Ratchet said, picking up his right hand off the ground. "See his index figure?" he pointed out, it being covered in energon. "The rest of his fingers were clean," Ratchet told them.

"What does that mean?" Onslaught asked.

"My guess, he tried writing something," he answered.

"He did?" Jazz asked.

"My best guess," Ratchet answered.

**Ammo Gained: Energon-Stained Figure**

**Vortex's right index-finger is stained with energon. **

"Anything else?" Onslaught asked.

"No. You can go," Ratchet told them.

"Good. Let's go," Onslaught said, him and Jazz getting out.

"Come on back later," Ratchet told them. "I'll cut this knife out to get a better look at it. Might be able to get a clue off it," Ratchet told them.

"Good," Onslaught agreed, him and Jazz heading back out of the room.

"Head!" they heard upstairs. They turned their head up to see Nightbeat, Wildrider, and Dead End staring down at them from the fifth floor. "Get up here," Wildrider told them.

"Looks like they found it," Jazz noticed, the two of them quickly heading up the stairs.

"Hey there," Dead End greeted them. "We found another bent railing," he said, showing them the bent railing.

"Just like the previous one," Onslaught said.

"Nt extly," Nightbeat 'told' them.

"Not exactly," Wildrider translated.

"Uh?" Jazz wondered.

"Oh, yeah, we were talking about it," Dead End said. "This railing is bent _outward_."

"Outward?" Onslaught wondered.

"Yeah, a bit odd," Dead End wondered.

**Ammo Gained: Fifth Floor Railing **

**Railing at fifth floor outlier was bent outward. **

"Along with that, there was some sloppily cleaned up energon stains on the ground. Someone tried to cleaned it up," Wildrider told them, indicating to the ground near the railing.

**Ammo Gained: Messily Cleaned Energon**

**Energon stains found on the fifth floor next to bent railing. **

"Anything else?" Onslaught asked.

"Not that we kn-"

"Hre!" Nightbeat yelled from behind a shelf.

"What?" Onslaught asked, coming over. Nightbeat's face had a sense of sorrow to it.

"Nom," Nightbeat told him.

"Name," Wildrider told them.

"Who?" Onslaught asked. Nightbeat hesitated before answering.

"Sviwdon," Nightbeat answered.

"Swindle," Wildrider translated.

"What?!" Onslaught yelled, coming over to look at it. Right there, written on the floor, was Swindle's name written messily, along with a pool of energon.

"Frag! I guess that's open and shut," Wildrider muttered.

"No, it isn't. If it was Swindle, then why didn't he try to clean this up when he tried to clean up the one by the railing?" Dead End asked the group.

"I expect answers from him the next time we see him," Onslaught guttered.

**Ammo Gained: Energon Pool**

**A pool of unclean energon found behind a datapad shelf. **

**Ammo Gained: Swindle's Name**

**Found behind a datapad shelf behind written on the floor.**

"Hey, shelf," Jazz pointed. "Look at the corner jutting out."

"There's energon on it," Onslaught said.

"Yeah, like someone landed on it," Dead End muttered. "Very sloppy craftsmanship."

**Ammo Gained: Bookshelf Corner**

**Jutting corner from bookshelf with energon dripping from it.**

"What does all this means?" Jazz asked. Nightbeat whispered something to Wildrider.

"Nighty says that Vortex's falling on the corner could have left him unconscious," Wildrdier said.

"And then they dragged him to the archives to torture him," Onslaught finished.

"Exactly," Jazz agreed.

"It still leaves a lot of unanswered questions," Dead End said.

"Like that energon trail we missed," Jazz said, crouching down in front of a trail of energon droplets.

"Huh, look at that," Onslaught muttered, examining it. Nightbeat muttered something to Wildrider.

"Nightbeat says, judging by the ways it splatters, that Vortex was walking out of the Book shelf," Wildrider translated.

"Out, where it was scrubbed up along with the other energon," Onslaught said.

**Ammo Gained: Energon Trail **

**Trail starting at bookshelf and leading away from it.**

"Right, I think that's all we'll get up here," Jazz said. "I don't think we'll find anything else up here."

"Hey, wait," Dead End said, looking over the abnormally tall railing. "This spot is right above the number nine table," Dead End said.

"It is?" Onslaught asked, looking over the railing easily with his tall stature.

"Well, that's interesting," Jazz said.

**Ammo Gained: Location of Fifth Floor Struggle**

**The location of the struggle is right above the number nine desk's position.**

"Sounds fine to me. We need to find Swindle and Hound. We need to hear from them," Onslaught said, heading down the steps. "Wait for me!" Jazz yelled. Together, the two of them descended down the steps to the third floor.

"Right, Hound or Swindle may be in here. Search carefully," Onslaught said as he looked into a door. "Never mind. Found Hound," he said. Jazz came up behind him to see Hound surrounded by pictures and paintings of flames.

"Oh, hey," he said casually.

"Uh, hi," Jazz greeted. "Nice collection you got here," he complimented nervously.

"Thanks. I've been working on them for most of the previous night," Hound explained.

"You have?" Jazz asked.

"Yeah, uh, last night I was here from 7 PM to 1 AM. I met Beachcomber on the way down to my room. I like him you know. I feel like we're kindred sparks," Hounds said.

"Yeah, cool," Jazz muttered. "Thanks for the information."

"You're welcome," he said, as he went back to his painting.

**Ammo Gained: Hound's Testimony. **

**In art room next to library's third floor entrance. **

The two of them got out of there and quickly head to the third floor infirmary, not finding him there. The two quickly departed the floor and upped to the fourth floor and made a beeline for the infirmary on that floor near the entrance to the library. The two entered to see Swindle examining an obsidian scalpel with a broken tip.

"Found it" he said, showing them the obsidian scalpel. "This looks like the scalpel that had a piece ripped out of it."

"Ah, good," Onslaught muttered.

**Ammo Gained: Broken Obsidian Scalpel. **

**An obsidian scalpel that had the tip broken off.**

"That's not the only suspicious thing I found here," Swindle said, picking a garbage can off the ground and showing ti to them. Inside it was a bit of tubing with some energon in it. "This was used somehow, although I really don't know how," Swindle told them.

"Well, that complicates thing," Jazz said to himself.

**Ammo Gained: Bit of Tubing. **

**Found in the trash with some energon in it.**

"Also, I've been looking over the tools. It looks like they have been clean recently. Both sets," Swindle told them. "I think this is the stuff that was used to tortured Vortex," he told the two gloomily.

"That's disturbing," Jazz muttered.

**Ammo Gained: Clean Medical Equipment**

**The fourth floor infirmary equipment was cleaned recently. **

"I also checked the miscellaneous supplies. Some wire was used recently," Swindle told them.

**Ammo Gained: Missing Wire**

**Wire in the fourth floor infirmary was missing. **

"Swindle, that's all well and good, but that's not what we came here for," Onslaught told him.

"Really? Than why are you here?" Swindle asked. The two stayed silent before Onslaught answered.

"We found your name written in Vortex's energon," he told him.

"What?!" Swindle yelled surprised. "But, I wasn't there," Swindle told them.

"Swindle, I'm pretty sure you're lying, so tell-"

"Shut it! I didn't found all this evidence just so I can get badgered by you two. I'm heading to the library. Inform me when you actually think I'm innocent," Swindle told them, heading out of the room.

"Well, that was wasted time," Jazz muttered.

"But, Swindle did found some interesting things," Onslaught said.

"Yes, I wondered how they will be used during the trial," he muttered to himself.

"We should head back to Ratchet before Monobear calls for the trials," Jazz said, quickly heading out of the room, Onslaught following him. They quickly went back to the archive to see Ratchet had just finished cutting the knife out of Vortex's body.

"Ah, good to see you. As you see, the knife is a kitchen knife," he said, showing it to them.

**Ammo Updated: Knife **

**Found embedded in the victim's chest where the T-cog resides. Unable to be removed. **

**Is a regular kitchen knife.**

"Also, since I've been getting really closed to the body, I've been able to take a closer look and there's a massive gash in his head. Probably enough to severely weaken him and bring him here. Maybe ever enough to kill if it pierce his CPU or other vital stuff in his head," Ratchet told them.

"Pretty nasty. I've gotten gashes like these before and they weren't pretty," Skywarp told them.

**Ammo Gained: Gash in Victim's head. **

**Severely damaging attack done to Vortex's head. Could've killed him or majorly injured him.**

"And, this is truly weird, I think is spinal strut is broken," Ratchet told them.

"Well, duh," Skywarp said. "He's split in half. What do you expect?"

"The location is wrong. The place where the spinal strut is broken is near the base of the neck," Ratchet told them.

**Ammo Gained: Broken Spinal Strut**

**Spinal strut at base of neck is broken. **

"Also, his face is broken by what looks to be a cylindrical object, judging by the markings it left."

**Ammo Gained: Broken Face **

**Face appear to be broken by a cylindrical object.**

"Thanks, Ratch," Jazz gave his gratitude.

"No problem. I'm guessing we're nearing the school trial," Ratchet said.

"Yeah, it's about 1:30," Jazz said.

"And the door will closed soon," Onslaught said. "We can finally identified who opened the door at 11:30 last night," Onslaught said. The group quickly got out of the archives as the archive door closed behind them, sealing them off for another 12 hours. Jazz quickly turned the machine on and gazed at the archives of the archives.

"And the person to open it at 11:30 is… Scavenger?" Jazz asked confused.

"The constructicon with the tail," Onslaught said.

**Ammo Gained: Archive Door Opening**

**Door was opened at 11:30 PM last night. **

**Scavenger was the one who opened. **

"Okay, let's make one last stop before the trial," Onslaught said.

"Where?" Jazz asked.

"The second floor," Onslaught answered. The two of them quickly found themselves on the second floor. "Swindle's room," Onslaught said. The door was still opened from Swindle's paranoia and the two entered it. The two entered the room. "What are we searching for?" Jazz asked, looking through a drawer.

"This," Onslaught said, heading to the knife block. There was two knives missing.

**Ammo Gained: Swindle's Knife Block**

**Two knives were missing. **

"Hey, there's something in this drawer," Jazz said, taking out a datapad.

"What is it?" Onslaught asked.

"It's a note, asking him to come at the library's fifth floor at 11:00 PM," he told him.

**Ammo Gained: Swindle's Note **

**Note asking Swindle to come to library at 11:30 PM**

"Could this be another frame-up like Skywarp's" Jazz asked.

"Let's head to Vortex's room real quick," Onslaught said.

"Probably best," Jazz agreed. The two exited the room and head to Vortex's room. "Alright, what is there in this room that we can used?" Jazz asked. The two of them quickly did a search of the room, coming up with almost nothing.

"Well, I found this datapad," Onslaught noticed, reading it. "Oh, frag," Onslaught murmured.

"It's a journal entry, about Vortex sending notes to my other subordinates to meet him in the fifth floor of the library," Onslaught murmured.

"None of them mentioned it," Jazz said.

"Which means they are all lying to me in some way. Just great," Onslaught dragged it out.

**Ammo Gained: Vortex's Journal **

**Send notes to the Combaticons beside Onslaught to meet him in the fifth floor of the library. **

"Well, looks like we're done here. I want to go talk to them real quick," Onslaught said.

"What the frag!" a voiced yelled. The two looked at each other before heading out to see Knock Out investigating a strange prism device.

"Knock Out. What's wrong?" Onslaught asked.

"I searched my room and fond this in the vents," Knock Out answered. "I have no idea what it is," he said before smashing it with his feet, "but it doesn't matter anymore."

**Ammo Gained: Strange Device **

**Knock Out found it in his room**

"Hey!" Wildrider yelled, running over to them "Nightbeat told me to give you this," he said, handing them a datapad. "It's a chart of the dorm rooms and who stays in them," he said.

Stairs

Beachcomber Brawl

Swindle Perceptor

Ratchet Skywarp

Bludgeon Counterpunch

Drift Shockwave

Nautilator Blurr

Mirage Dead End

Blast Off Hound

Nightbeat Soundwave

Wildrider Chromedome

Rewind Mixmaster

Onslaught Smokescreen

Bumblebee Vortex

Scavenger Jazz

Hoist Knock Out

Library Entrance

"What's the point of this?" Jazz asked, holding hit up in the air.

"I dunno," Wildrider murmured. "He just says that it's a hunch."

**Ammo Gained: Map of dorm rooms**

**A map that identifies which dorm room someone lives in.**

DING DONG!

"Attention, the investigation is over. Everyone head to the cargo elevator for the trial!"

The four of them looked at each other.

"Well, I guess it's time to send someone else to the gallows," Knock Out murmured, heading out to the stairs. The other three looked at each other before following him down the stairs and reaching the cargo elevator. The four of them were the first to arrive and took their place in the elevator. Everyone else slowly drifted in, preparing themselves for the trial on hand. Once the last person entered, Blurr hit the button liked he usually does and send the elevator down. The elevator descended slowly, lasting for what felt like eons for everyone before it finally stopped and opened up.

They entered the family trial room, and quickly took their places. In Soundwave and Vortex's place was pictures of them. Vortex's was a blue, bloody X like Shockwave's while Soundwave's was in an X with what looked like Laserbeak. Hound and Nightbeat looked nervous, standing in-between two portraits of their dead comrades.

"Welcome, everyone, to your second trial! It's good to see that you're very proactive with illing each other," Monobear said cheerily.

"Would you shut up!?" Onslaught ordered.

"Huh," Monobear gasped, offended. "Anyway, the rules, as you know is to discuss amongst each other to find the culprit of the case. If you succeed, the culprit is the only one that gets punished. If you fail, the culprit is the only one that gets unpunished. Everyone understand?" Everyone agreed. "Good. I pronounce the second school trial to be in session!"


	20. Chapter 2: Trial PT 1

**Do you have the facts straight? **

**1.**** Monobear File #2 **

Victim: Vortex

Location of Discovery: Archives.

Additional Notes: Victim's body has sustained massive amounts of blunt force injury, multiple parts being dismember. Multiple stab wounds littered the body. Head decapitated.

**2. Knife**

Found embedded in the victim's chest where the T-cog resides. Unable to be removed.

Is a regular kitchen knife.

**3. Vortex's T-cog**

Tried to use it when the knife hit him.

**4. Knife Wounds **

Victim was covered in Knife wounds, but they looked different from the knife embedded in his chest.

**5. Wire **

Used to restrain the victim to the table.

**6. Broken Table **

Table used to torture Vortex was from the library and split in half.

**7. Numbers under the table**

Numbers are etched under the tables. The one Vortex was tied to was number eight.

**8. Archive Door Opening. **

Door was opened at 11:30 PM last night.

Scavenger was the one who opened it.

**9. Swindle's Testimony**

Saw Hound passed his door at 1:00 PM.

**10. First Floor Infirmary**

Still barred shut to keep Knock Out in.

**11. Knock Out's Testimony**

Heard footsteps walking past the first floor infirmary to the stairs at a little after 12:30.

**12. Ammo Gained: Chart of Desks**

Shows placement of desks. The number nine desks appeared to be out of ordered and the number eight desk missing.

**13. Giant Crack in Floor **

A crack on the floor that came from a massive impact. Found under table nine.

**14. Third Floor Railing **

Railing on third floor catwalk was bent inward.

**15. Beachcomber's Testimony**

Up at A/V room from 8:30 PM until 1:00 AM.

**16. Mixmaster and Blurr's Testimony**

Up at fourth-floor lounge together. Saw no one. Both were there at 10:30 PM. Mixmaster left at 12:45 AM while Blurr left at 1:15 AM.

**17. Constructicons' Strange Behavior**

Both of the Constructicons were trying to sneak into archive.

**18. Energon at Body**

Definitely bodily energon.

**19. Strange Neck Wound Pattern**

Neck was mostly ripped apart except for a small part that was cut off.

**20. Obsidian Shard**

A piece of Obsidian found in the body.

**21. Green Paint Scrape**

A jagged piece of metal had green paint scrape on it. Doesn't match any of the paint jobs in the school.

**22. Energon-Stained Figure**

Vortex's right index-finger is stained with energon.

**23. Fifth Floor Railing **

Railing at fifth floor outlier was bent outward.

**24. Messily Cleaned Energon**

Energon stains found on the fifth floor next to bent railing.

**25. Energon Pool**

A pool of unclean energon found behind a datapad shelf.

**26. Swindle's Name**

Found behind a datapad shelf behind written on the floor.

**27. Bookshelf Corner**

Jutting corner from bookshelf with energon dripping from it.

**28. Energon Trail **

Trail starting at bookshelf and leading away from it.

**29. Location of Fifth Floor Struggle**

The location of the struggle is right above the number nine desk's position.

**30. Hound's Testimony. **

In art room next to library's third floor entrance from 7PM to 1AM.

**31. Broken Obsidian Scalpel. **

An obsidian scalpel that had the tip broken off.

**32. Bit of Tubing. **

Found in the trash with some energon in it.

**33. Clean Medical Equipment**

The fourth floor infirmary equipment was cleaned recently.

**34. Missing Wire**

Wire in the fourth floor infirmary was missing.

**35. Gash in Victim's head. **

Severely damaging attack done to Vortex's head. Could've killed him or majorly injured him.

**36. Broken Spinal Strut**

Spinal strut at base of neck is broken.

**37. Broken Face **

Face appear to be broken by a cylindrical object.

**38. Swindle's Knife Block**

Two knives were missing.

**39. Swindle's Note **

Note asking Swindle to come to library at 11:30 PM

**40. Vortex's Journal entry**

Send notes to the Combaticons beside Onslaught to meet him in the fifth floor of the library.

**40. Strange Device **

Knock Out found it in his room

**41. Map of dorm rooms**

A map that identifies which dorm room someone lives in.

_Court is now in session_

"Right, a quick run-through of events," Onslaught said to everyone. "Yesterday, a lot of us were at the library investigating that day until 10 PM. After that, most of us headed in for the rooms for the night, except for a select few. Today, this morning, I and the rest of the Combaticons woke today with this feeling in our circuitry that something was wrong. That prove to be true when, at 12:30 PM, we open the archive doors to find Vortex tortured to death. That is the order of events last night. First off, we should try to establish a motive."

"Obviously, this was personal," Swindle chimed in. "It's no secret that we've made enemies, none more than Vortex. Someone here decided to inflict Vortex the same torture he inflicted on numerous others."

"To go along with that," Blast Off said, "Vortex had been more friendlier due to unknown affects Monobear has inflicted on us, making him more subdue and more easy to convince him to follow."

"Once the killer closed the archive door, nobody could find the body, delaying the investigation and giving him more time to dispose of evidence before we could stop him," Brawl finished off.

"Alright, so what should we discuss first?" Chromedome asked.

"We should probably discuss the state of the body," Perceptor said.

"Works fine," Onslaught agreed, getting ready to shred any bad information anyone says.

_Nonstop Debate!_

Ammo Available:

Location of Fifth Floor Struggle

Obsidian Shard

Fifth Floor Railing

SKYWARP: Well, he was **tortured** to death, obviously.

SKYWARP: The guy had obviously never heard of overkill before.

MIRAGE: He bled copiously and was **bound to a table**.

RATCHET: His body was stabbed multiple times.

MIXMASTER: And he was decapitated.

JAZZ: His face was smashed in as well.

SCAVENGER: As far as we can tell…

SCAVENGER: the crime **only took place at the archives**.

BRAWL: A slow and merciless crime.

ONSLAUGHT: That's wrong!

Ammo Used: Location of Fifth Floor Struggle

"There was plenty of action on the fifth floor," Onslaught announced.

"That's putting it lightly," Dead End said.

"Anyway, there was a definite struggle on the fifth floor. The killer probably subdue Vortex there and then brought him to the archive," Onslaught told everybody.

"Why?" Knock Out asked.

"Huh?" Onslaught asked.

"Why there? I mean, if I were to subdue someone and bring them to the archives, I would od it on the first or second floor, not all the way up at the top. Why would he do that?" Knock Out asked.

"Because…"

_Present Evidence!_

1. Monobear File #2

2. Knife

3. Vortex's T-cog

4. Knife Wounds

5. Wire

6. Broken Table

7. Numbers Under the Table

8. Archive Door Opening

9. Swindle's Testimony

10. First Floor Infirmary

11. Knock Out's Testimony

12. Ammo Gained: Chart of Desks

13. Giant Crack in Floor

14. Third Floor Railing

15. Beachcomber's Testimony

16. Mixmaster and Blurr's Testimony

17. Constructicons' Strange Behavior

18. Energon at Body

19. Strange Neck Wound Pattern

20. Obsidian Shard

21. Green Paint Scrape

22. Energon-Stained Figure

23. Fifth Floor Railing

24. Messily Cleaned Energon

25. Energon Pool

26. Swindle's Name

27. Bookshelf Corner

28. Energon Trail

29. Location of Fifth Floor Struggle

30. Hound's Testimony

31. Broken Obsidian Scalpel.

32. Bit of Tubing.

33. Clean Medical Equipment

34. Missing Wire

35. Gash in Victim's head

36. Broken Spinal Strut

37. Broken Face

38. Swindle's Knife Block

39. Swindle's Note

40. **Vortex's Journal entry**

41. Strange Device

42. Map of dorm rooms

"Vortex had made a note about him asking Swindle, Brawl, and Blast Off to the fifth floor library," Onslaught told the court.

"I didn't go," Blast Off immediately said.

"Neither did I," Swindle answered.

"Same here," Brawl answered.

"If that's true, then this was a crime of opportunity," Knock Out said. "Alright, let's continue talking about the state of the body."

"No!" Jazz screamed out. "One of them was clearly at the scene of the crime, this can't be denied. Onslaught, I know this hurts, but you can't keep it under wraps."

"I know…" Onslaught muttered.

"Wait, so who was it?" Scavenger asked.

Onslaught gave a groan before answering:

_Make an accusation!_

Jazz

Brawl

Mirage

Dead End

Bumblebee

Mixmaster

Blurr

Skywarp

Counterpunch

Bludgeon

Drift

Nautilator

Hoist

Blast Off

Rewind

Wildrider

Chromedome

Onslaught

Beachcomber

**Swindle**

Smokescreen

Knock Out

Ratchet

Scavenger

Perceptor

Shockwave

Hound

Vortex

Nightbeat

Soundwave

"Swindle, I know you were there," Onslaught told him.

"What….. Haven't I got over this? I wasn't there!" Swindle yelled.

"Yes you were! Now tell me what you know," Onslaught ordered.

_Cross Swords Battle!_

Swords Available:

Knife

Swindle's name

Jutted corner

SWINDLE: I wasn't there!

SWINDLE: Vortex was someone I couldn't trust.

SWINDLE: I would never go meet him.

SWINDLE: There were too many variables I couldn't control.

SWINDLE: I couldn't risk going up there.

…

Development

…

ONSLAUGHT: Obviously, you choose to ignore the risk…

ONSLAUGHT: …and a critical piece of evidence proves this.

SWINDLE: I'll repeat this again.

SWINDLE: No way would I go up there.

SWINDLE: Everything about what you say is faulty.

SWINDLE: **Nothing about Vortex's body proves I was there.**

ONSLAUGHT: That's getting ripped apart!

Sword used: Knife

"The knife," Onslaught said.

"Huh?" Swindle asked.

"The knife in his body was kitchen knife," Onslaught answered. "Add it with another piece of evidence and it becomes clear you were there."

1. Monobear File #2

2. Knife

3. Vortex's T-cog

4. Knife Wounds

5. Wire

6. Broken Table

7. Numbers Under the Table

8. Archive Door Opening

9. Swindle's Testimony

10. First Floor Infirmary

11. Knock Out's Testimony

12. Ammo Gained: Chart of Desks

13. Giant Crack in Floor

14. Third Floor Railing

15. Beachcomber's Testimony

16. Mixmaster and Blurr's Testimony

17. Constructicons' Strange Behavior

18. Energon at Body

19. Strange Neck Wound Pattern

20. Obsidian Shard

21. Green Paint Scrape

22. Energon-Stained Figure

23. Fifth Floor Railing

24. Messily Cleaned Energon

25. Energon Pool

26. Swindle's Name

27. Bookshelf Corner

28. Energon Trail

29. Location of Fifth Floor Struggle

30. Hound's Testimony

31. Broken Obsidian Scalpel.

32. Bit of Tubing.

33. Clean Medical Equipment

34. Missing Wire

35. Gash in Victim's head

36. Broken Spinal Strut

37. Broken Face

38. **Swindle's Knife Block**

39. Swindle's Note

40. Vortex's Journal entry

41. Strange Device

42. Map of dorm rooms

"Swindle, there's two knives missing from your knife block. One you have with you right now, and the other I'm sure is embedded in Vortex's chest," Onslaught answered.

"Ugh!" Swindle groaned. "That… that doesn't prove anything! Someone could've sneaked in and stolen it."

"Swindle, quit lying," Onslaught ordered.

"No, it's still a possibility," Swindle answered.

"No, it isn't. You've been far too paranoid to let someone get in your room," Onslaught told him.

"There isn't anything else that points to me being there! Quit trying to put the blame on me!"

"I wouldn't have too if you didn't keep lying!"

"Lying? About what?! I'm not lying!"

"Swindle- would you,"

"Shut up! Quit trying to put me there!"

Machine Gun Talk Battle!

Ammunition available:

Swindle's name

Jagged Corner

Gash on Victim's Head

Shield X6

SWINDLE: I wasn't there!

Shield X5

SWINDLE: Someone stole my knife!

Shield X4

SWINDLE: Someone else was there!

Shield X3

SWINDLE: I'm not involved!

Shield X2

SWINDLE: Why would I hurt Vortex!

Shield X1

SWINDLE: I couldn't possibly kill him!

_Shield destroyed!_

SWINDLE: **Nothing indicates that I met Vortex up there!**

ONSLAUGHT: This proves you did!

Ammo used: Swindle's Name

"Vortex wrote your name down in energon on the floor."

"What? But I wasn't-"

"Enough with the lies! Just give me the truth for once!"

"But, that was faked," Swindle said.

"No it wasn't!"

_Present Evidence!_

1. Monobear File #2

2. Knife

3. Vortex's T-cog

4. Knife Wounds

5. Wire

6. Broken Table

7. Numbers Under the Table

8. Archive Door Opening

9. Swindle's Testimony

10. First Floor Infirmary

11. Knock Out's Testimony

12. Ammo Gained: Chart of Desks

13. Giant Crack in Floor

14. Third Floor Railing

15. Beachcomber's Testimony

16. Mixmaster and Blurr's Testimony

17. Constructicons' Strange Behavior

18. Energon at Body

19. Strange Neck Wound Pattern

20. Obsidian Shard

21. Green Paint Scrape

22. **Energon-Stained Figure**

23. Fifth Floor Railing

24. Messily Cleaned Energon

25. Energon Pool

26. Swindle's Name

27. Bookshelf Corner

28. Energon Trail

29. Location of Fifth Floor Struggle

30. Hound's Testimony

31. Broken Obsidian Scalpel.

32. Bit of Tubing.

33. Clean Medical Equipment

34. Missing Wire

35. Gash in Victim's head

36. Broken Spinal Strut

37. Broken Face

38. Swindle's Knife Block

39. Swindle's Note

40. Vortex's Journal entry

41. Strange Device

42. Map of dorm rooms

"Vortex's index finger was stained with energon. He used that finger to write you name down," Onslaught told him.

"That's- That's-"

"The truth. There's no use denying it," Onslaught told him. Swindle played with his knife as he attempted to process Onslaught's words. "Quit thinking it over!" Onslaught yelled, causing him to flinch and cut his palm. Swindle held his hand as he looked at everyone's judgmental eyes. They knew that he was lying and nothing he would say would convince them otherwise.

"Fine," Swindle muttered. "Look, I went up there at the 12:20, a few minutes early. I saw that Vortex was already there. We met up behind the bookshelf and we talked and waited. He kept talking and my previous thoughts about him started to go away. I thought I could trust him, but every word he was saying felt like poison. He was trying to get my guard down."

"But I wouldn't let that happened! I-I stabbed him when he wasn't paying attention. He screamed at me, and I knew it was the right decision. I just wanted to get away. I knew the consequence of killing him, so I pushed and he felled and hit his head on a jagged end of the bookshelf. I waited, but he didn't get back up. So, I ran. I ran back in my room and kept my door opened, hoping no one would discover what I did," he finished.

"Wait, that can't be it," Wildrider said. "You didn't mentioned how you tortured him."

"That's because I didn't."

"!"

"Look, when we found Vortex in the archives, I was just as surprised as the rest of you. I didn't do that! Yes, I attacked him, but I didn't killed him," Swindle told the group. The rest of the group looked on in silence, trying to figure out what he said was true or not. Finally, Rewind spoke first.

"What a load of scrap! Do you really expect us to believe that?" Rewind asked him.

"But, it's the truth!" Swindle yelled out.

"Swindle, pal, I think it's time to call it quits," Smokescreen said, depressed.

"I didn't killed him," Swindle desperately begged.

"Lying as you await your demise is a shame. Admit the rest of the truth," Bludgeon ordered.

"Please… I didn't… don't vote for me," Swindle could barely get out, on his knees.

"Well, I hate to say it, but it's time to vote," Jazz said. "Monobear, can we vote?" he asked.

Onslaught froze. Was this it? Was Swindle really the killer? He looked over to him. He was on his knees, barely holding on to his stand. The energon from his cut was dripping down his stand and making a small pool underneath him. He was trying desperately to keep from breaking down, although he was already broken enough.

"Alright, if you guys just head on over to your elecetroID and vote, unless someone besides Swindle has an objection," Monobear asked.

…

…

…

…

…

"NARP!"

Onslaught froze as he turned to Nightbeat.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Blurr asked, uncertain.

"Uh, that's a no," Wildrider translated.

"Oh, in that case, come on! Why not?" Blurr asked. Nightbeat spoke and Wildrider translated.

"He says there is too many unanswered questions in this case," he replied.

"So? We don't need to know every little step, we just need to know the outcome," Blurr rebuked. "Swindle killed Vortex like the backstabbing, two-bit scumbag that he is. We all know he has a history of betrayal that would surpassed even Starscream, so is it any surprised that he would do something like this?"

"Shut it!" Onslaught shouted, glaring at the racer. "That's _my_ soldier you're talking about and I won't let anyone falsely accuse him."

"Does that mean…"

"Yes, I think he's innocent and I'm going to prove it," Onslaught told the group as he prepared to give his onslaught of arguments. "First, I would like to ask someone who more than likely knows more than he's letting on and I want to wring the truth out of him," he pronounced.

"Who would that be?" he asked, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Simple, I call for…"

_Make an Accusation_

_Make an accusation!_

Jazz

Brawl

Mirage

Dead End

Bumblebee

Mixmaster

Blurr

Skywarp

Counterpunch

Bludgeon

Drift

Nautilator

Hoist

Blast Off

Rewind

Wildrider

Chromedome

Onslaught

Beachcomber

Swindle

Smokescreen

Knock Out

Ratchet

Scavenger

Perceptor

Shockwave

Hound

Vortex

Nightbeat

Soundwave


End file.
